APUA tells customers that safety checks at Crabbs RO Plant are cause for delays in production and provision of water

As a number of communities are reporting they are without pipe-borne water, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) Water Business Unit says it is conducting thorough safety checks on high-voltage electrical panels at the Crabbs Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plant.

As a precautionary measure, the Authority says, its team is cross-checking to mitigate any risk of irreversible damage to equipment and to the plant operators.

These safety checks reportedly have delayed normal production and distribution to the household serviced by the Crabbs plant.

Meanwhile, the Authority says the production and the distribution of water have resumed at the Pigeon Point, Ivan Rodrigues, Camp Blizzard, Fort James and Ffryes Plants.

APUA says it “deeply regrets any inconvenience caused for the delay in water distribution, but wishes to assure customers that these decisions are for safety concerns.”

Only four days after the Fort James Reverse Osmosis Plant had been commissioned, it broke down, prompting widespread public criticism of the Authority and of the Browne Administration, which had boasted of the additional provision of water.

Over the last weekend and following the passage of Tropical Storm Fiona, some residents also criticized the Administration’s reliance on desalinated water.

They said the Government has chosen the more expensive route of water production, and deliberately neglected the storage of rainwater in catchments, particularly in the Potworks Dam.