B.W.S. Says Residents Should Flush Out Dirty Water before Use
Alvan Haynes
While B.W.S. and the ministry look at addressing the problem, a temporary solution would be to flush out the discoloured water until it becomes clear and safe for consumption and use. We reached out to C.E.O. Haynes to respond to the findings of Flowers. He told News Five that at no time did he say that the dirty water was safe for consumption. According to Hayne, iron bacteria in the water is not a health risk. He says that the issue has subsided tremendously.
Alvan Haynes, C.E.O., B.W.S. [File: October 28th, 2019]
“The slight discolouration of the water, and sometimes, it is worse than slight; the first thing we have seen is that the water is not unsafe. So, the simple solution is to run the water a little bit so that clears out and then it is perfectly good. The main problem with the discolouration is that it would stain white clothes in the laundry. But other than that, it is safe to bathe, safe to use to cook, safe to give the dogs to drink or people to drink, etc.”
Anthony Flowers
Anthony Flowers, Water Analyst, Ministry of Health
“From the Ministry of Health standpoint we are not deeming the brown water to be suitable for drinking. That’s basically our view, that the brown water as it comes out from your tap should not be used for drinking because it is not safe from the stand point that I just explained to you why we would say that.”
Reporter
“So his comments were basically erroneous?”
Anthony Flowers
“Well I didn’t listen to Mr. Haynes comments totally but I can just say that from our standpoint that is our view point that the brown water is not safe based on the fact that you have increase iron and turbidity.”
Reporter
“Sir and is the ministry in communication with B.W.S.?”
Anthony Flowers
“Yes. I must say that our work with B.W.S. for the past two days. We have been out in the fields along the Belize River’s different points because we are still not able to ascertain what is causing this. So we are out in the fields for two days looking at the river, the raw water source because for Belize City the source is the Belize River where they have the extraction point there at Double Run. So we have been out with them collecting samples We are now processing those samples to see if increased iron is coming from the raw water itself or some other operational parameters within the system.”
Alvan Haynes [File: October 28th, 2019]
“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.”
Anthony Flowers
“I cannot at this time say that yes by the end of the week the issue will be resolved because if we don’t know what exactly is the cause then it is kind of difficult to put a firm date in terms of resolution of it. When we know then that would help us in terms of looking at the solution. One possible thing that they can do is add a chemical call C-quest that would put the iron in solution. It doesn’t remove it but put it puts in solution. We will be monitoring more. We will continue to do that monitoring until we resolve that issue.”
