B.W.S. Says Land Clearing Responsible for Increased Levels of Iron in Water

Alvan Haynes

So, as you heard just now, C.E.O of B.W.S. Alvan Haynes said that the water coming out of your pipes is safe to drink. He told the press today that the problem appears to be subsiding and advises households to run the pipes for a while to get rid of the brown colour. According to Haynes, the elevated levels of iron started after the heavy rains almost two weeks ago. Here’s how he explains it.

Alvan Haynes, C.E.O., B.W.S.

“We believe the main increase was caused by the first onset of unusually heavy rains back in October fourteenth to fifteenth. It implies that land clearing has caused soil to be washed into the river because iron is a natural component in the soil and has increased the levels and that will subside, hopefully, we are assuming based on the tests that we have that it went high and it has reduced somewhat. Hopefully, we don’t have a reoccurrence with more rains. Essentially, we are seeing four or five times the levels we have seen in the past in normal circumstances, it has subsided somewhat so that the new instances reported – the water is much clearer but essentially what we are doing is that we are flushing the mains to get whatever levels washed out through the main lines but because it spreads through the entire distribution system to each lines to people’s home and flushing the main won’t get it out of the individual lines and that is why we are asking  customers to just run the water a little when they see it.”