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The Caribbean is running out of drinking water

Oct 11, 2017 News

 

Climate change has taken a toll on the water sector, which remains as one of the most vulnerable sectors in the Caribbean.
This is according to Dr. Ulric Trotz, Deputy Director and Science Advisor at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).
Dr. Trotz said that the region is grappling with two realities; water scarcity is one. The other is the threat to water supplies in the wake of natural disasters.
“Some islands have already been designated as water scarce: Barbados, Antigua, from our projections from the climate models we are using. We are going to be living in a warmer and dryer Caribbean” Dr. Trotz said in a recent interview.
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre is overseeing the implementation of Salt Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Plants in various countries to aid in the security of water sources. “We started with a pilot in Bequia, where during the dry season, water had to be barred, from the mainland to Bequia, Dr. Trotz explained.
Integral to SWRO plants is cost saving energy measures. “A lot of us don’t seem to realise that the biggest cost for producing water is power, the energy costs are high,” Dr. Trotz said. “We put in a salt water reverse osmosis plant which as you know is very energy intense but we have put in with that plant a photovoltaic system that runs the whole SWRO plant.”
The CCCCC has installed SWRO plants in Carriacou, Petit Martinique, Caye Caulker and Barbados.
And in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, affected countries continue to grapple with massive losses and devastation. Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit painted the reality recently to the United Nations General Assembly. “Our homes are flat, our buildings, roofless, our water pipes smashed and road infrastructure destroyed. Our hospital is without power and schools have disappeared beneath the rubble; our crops are uprooted,” Skerrit reported.
Power loss and landslides in the wake of natural disasters remain major threats to many of the islands’ infrastructure. In St Lucia South, pipe distribution lines were disrupted by strong winds following Hurricane Irma leaving hundreds of residents without water.
The Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association’s (CWWA) President Alphonsus Daniel explained that many of the hurricane ravaged countries have experienced levels of devastation never seen before. He added that the water sector in many have been badly hit, “We have on the ground reports of the collapse of major water intakes, of broken infrastructure, damaged storage facilities and deteriorating water quality.”
The CWWA in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency has been coordinating support to many of the affected countries according to Daniel. This support includes dispatching water experts to assist with the repairs in many of the affected countries.
The impact of the hurricanes on the region will form part of the discussion at the upcoming CWWA 26th Annual conference to be held in Guyana. “The High Level Forum of the Ministers responsible for water is dedicated to discussing climate resilience in the context of our water utility companies and water resources agencies and how they organise their governance arrangement to build and sustain resilience,” Daniel added.
The opening plenary of the HLF is expected to focus on discussing innovative and creative strategies and approaches that the water sector can and must embrace in order to address the impact of climate change.

 

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