Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): Water from the newly discovered well in Cayon, St. Kitts is expected to flow into the main system next month, bringing relief to the residents of Cayon and surrounding communities, who have endured water shortages for many years.
On the January 24, 2024, edition of InFocus, Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew, noted that a second round of testing is being conducted on the water in the well to confirm that it is fit for consumption.
In an interview on Thursday (January 25, 2024), Water Engineer, Cromwell Williams, said that the water quality test is standard to ensure that there are no deviations from the results of original tests conducted months ago. He added that a report is currently being prepared by the testing agency indicating its findings from the well. That report is expected next week.
Prime Minister Drew indicated that if the results are positive, officials are expected to receive a green light to begin extraction using a smaller pump that is already on hand.
“We have a smaller pump, so we will be able to pump maybe 200 to 250 thousand gallons of water per day. That is a significant amount of water,” Dr. Drew stated. “The larger pump has been ordered where we can get hundreds of thousands of gallons more per day … but we don’t want to delay while they are preparing the larger pump. Let us get this significant amount of water, and this is going to solve the problem to a great extent in Cayon, while we wait for the larger pump to come.”
The prime minister noted that he is looking forward to the commissioning ceremony for the new well, which is a step forward to fulfil his pledge to resolve the water issues in St. Kitts.