The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has revealed ambitious plans to modernise its ageing water network as the utility grapples with over a century of infrastructure in need of repair.
Acting CEO Christopher Mapp said much of the island’s network is over 80 years old, with between 1 200 and 1 500 service breaks and 80 to 100 main breaks each month.
Service breaks occur in the smaller pipes that connect the main water line to individual homes or businesses. When a service break happens, it typically affects a single property or a small cluster of properties.
Main breaks happen in the larger pipes that carry water across the island’s network. These are more significant, often affecting entire streets or neighbourhoods.
“Even though it may appear that we’re not as responsive to our customers, a lot goes on in the background to ensure that we deliver a quality service,” Mapp said during a press conference on Saturday. He added that improving communication with residents is a priority: “Getting PSAs out on a more timely basis, letting people know about the incidences of outages in their area and keeping them up to date… Not just saying there is an outage, but maybe a likely time and also when the service is back on.”
Marketing Officer Yvette Harris explained the scale of the network, noting it spans over 2 500 kilometres of mains and 50 facilities including pumping stations and reservoirs, all operating 24/7. “There will be breakages, there will be issues… We just try to share that information as quickly as possible,” she said.
Director of Engineering Charles Leslie outlined the BWA’s strategic approach to maintenance, including long-term infrastructure planning. “We recently completed what we call a Water and Wastewater Master Plan. This master plan is looking 30 years into the future… We are reviewing what we have in place now and we are seeing how we can make it better going forward… for the potable water as well as the wastewater situation.”
Leslie said upgrades will be shared with the public via town halls and media updates. “It’s for the next 30 years. But as things change, then we will review that plan and modify it. But it gives us a broad guideline as to where we want to go over the next 30-year period.”
Modernisation efforts include the introduction of GIS and SCADA systems, and the use of ground-penetrating radar to improve maintenance efficiency.
The GIS (Geographic Information System) maps the BWA’s entire water network, showing the location of pipes, pumping stations, and reservoirs to help plan repairs and maintenance. The SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system monitors the network in real time, tracking water pressure, flow, and reservoir levels so issues can be detected and addressed before customers are affected.
“SCADA probes are installed across our potable water sector and some within our wastewater sector… The technology would tell us that there’s something happening before it even becomes visible to the customers,” Leslie said.
The BWA is also targeting a reduction in non-revenue water, which currently stands at over 40 per cent. “What we’ve agreed to is that by 2030 we will reduce that figure to at least 30 per cent,” Mapp said, signalling a long-term commitment to improving water efficiency and service reliability.
Mapp stressed the importance of combining proactive maintenance with better communication, saying, “I think what we have to do is to look at getting out into the community and doing a little bit more… letting them know this is what we are doing and listening to them and impressing upon them that we can deliver that service to them.”
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