Schools and homes affected by the absence of pipe-borne water, due to unconfirmed breakdown at Crabbes plant

An alleged mechanical breakdown at the Crabbes Reverse Osmosis Plant is said to be responsible for the absence of pipe-borne water in a wide number of communities across Antigua.

Teachers in several schools tell REAL News they were out of running water today, Wednesday, March 15, and yesterday, and at least one primary school said it was low on reserves.

An educator reported that her school had been promised a delivery of water by the Fire Department; however, given the number of private trucks lined up for direct service at Crabbes, she was not optimistic that the delivery would be made in time.

However, she later confirmed that water had, indeed, been trucked to the compound before day’s end.

Meanwhile, homeowners in Mount Pleasant and Flagstaff tell our Newsroom that, up to Tuesday, they, too, had been without running water for three days.  They say they are particularly irked that – after all that time – the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) had not made any official statement on the matter.

One woman says she heard that “something catastrophic had happened at Crabbes” and that it would impact water distribution to the entire island.  

Others allege that a major pipe in the distribution mechanism has been broken and the technicians are unsure of how long it will take to fix the matter.

Meanwhile, disgruntled customers have been complaining that the water crisis – which was already bad before the recent elections – has gotten worse of late, despite a new minister – Melford Nicholas – having been appointed to manage APUA and the previous minister, Sir Robin Yearwood, being retained in an executive position.