Nicholas says water production will move from seven to nine millions gallons a day, shortly, to meet Carnival-season demand

As the Browne Administration continues struggling to provide an adequate supply of pipe-borne water, another promise is being made to increase the daily production.

Again, the water crisis was discussed during the weekly Cabinet sitting, this time on May 3.  

Reportedly, Minister of Public Utilities Melford Nicholas informed his colleagues that plans have been put in place to move potable-water production from seven million gallons to nine million gallons each day.

Nicholas says this should come into effect in a few weeks, and the objective is to ensure that, as demand grows in and around the 2023 Carnival season, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) will be able to satisfy households’ daily demand.

The Government continues to blame the unavailability of water to persistent drought conditions, which, it says, continue to leave surface water and underground aquifers without a supply of stored, potable water.

Therefore, Nicholas says the Government will have to continue to rely on Reverse Osmosis as an alternative means to supply the country with pipe-borne water – and this is very expensive.

More than $100 million, the Administration claims, has been spent on purchasing and installing RO plants since 2014.