B.W.S. Addresses Water Issues on Placencia Peninsula

Two thousand dollars a day, that’s the cost of trucking potable water from Dangriga and Riversdale to Placencia.  It is a bill that Belize Water Services is currently footing to ensure that there is adequate supply to all consumers on the peninsula heading into Easter. Over the past few days, it has been reported that an overall increase in water usage has resulted in a reduction of pressure overnight.  This is being done to sustain full storage levels to ensure the availability of water during peak hours.  But even then, the demand for water has been tremendous, forcing the utility company to transport approximately forty-five thousand gallons of water by Bowser to the popular tourist destination.  Earlier today, B.W.S. held a press conference at its headquarters in Belize City to inform customers that everything is being done to improve the situation in the immediate short term.  Alvan Haynes is the Chief Executive Officer.

Alvan Haynes

Alvan Haynes, C.E.O., Belize Water Services Ltd.

“We at BWS had realized several years ago that the demand on Placencia was constantly growing and we have a project in place that’s currently started a month or so ago to expand the capacity the system utilizes wells in Independence and a transmission line across to Placencia.  The current system was implemented in the mid-1990s, at which point Placencia and Seine Bight were relatively small villages.  We are planning to put, we already have additional wells in Independence, but we are planning to put a larger transmission main to Seine Bight, build a larger, five hundred thousand gallon tank at Seine Bight and we are also planning to expand the distribution system from Seine Bight to Maya Beach immediately, as part of this project and then to expand it further later on towards Riversdale. Yes, BWS has a plan, has had, in fact, the funds and the plans for the project in place pre-COVID.  We actually raised some debenture funds to finance this project in 2020, but the project was delayed for a number of reasons, including COVID. The simple situation is that we’re tapping up the tanks, the reservoirs, during the day as the supply is running them down.  So it allows us to maintain good pressure throughout the system [during] the daytime.  We’re putting between twenty-five to thirty PSI, pressure in the system.  Belize City, for instance, typically runs at twenty PSI, so it’s more than adequate.”

Rasheeda Williams-Castillo

Rasheeda Williams-Castillo, C.F.O., Belize Water Services Ltd.

“So currently, we have three bowsers, as the C.E.O. mentioned, that are currently transporting and that roughly is costing us about two thousand dollars per day.  As mentioned, we do expect to continue this until the Easter peak, and so we know that this amount will reduce once we are able to truck the water from a closer distance in Riversdale.  So currently, we are trucking from Dangriga water treatment plant and that is the highest cost that it’s costing us right now, per day.”