10 October 2019
St Helena’s water consumption levels continue to rise above 1000 cubic metres per day. This consumption rate cannot continue if we are to maintain safe water levels for the Island.
It might appear that the reservoirs aren’t suffering as people see, for instance at Hutt’s Gate, the two reservoirs are about 65% full. However, this is due to water being pumped daily from boreholes at Fishers Valley and Borehole 5 to Hutt’s Gate. Getting the water from there to Red Hill is an issue where the Earth Dam is empty and the other Harpers reservoirs are dangerously low. The majority of the water in the Red Hill zone is in Scott’s Mill reservoir. Currently, reservoir volumes overall is 41%, but at this time of the year we would expect them to be 100% full which would then provide sufficient reserves for the summer consumption. Despite Connect’s pumping systems working well, it is essential that we all continue to reduce our water consumption.
Emergency Planning and Sea Rescue Manager, Simon Wade, appeals to the community to make every effort to keep water consumption to essential use only.
Simon said:
“There is just over 4000 people living on St Helena. We can make a difference by simply trying one of these water savings tips; if we placed a one litre water bottle in each of our toilet systems, and averaging that we generally flush our toilets twice a day, we could be saving up to 8000 litres of water per day, just by flushing toilets alone!”
The weather forecast for St Helena suggests that we will experience mostly cloudy days with occasional showers, but will become mainly dry with a few bright or sunny spells.
The public is reminded that we are currently under an Island-wide hosepipe ban. If you see anyone using water irresponsibly or notice a burst pipe or leak, then please inform Connect immediately.
Every drop counts, every action counts – save water now to be safe later
#StHelena #WaterShortage #EveryDropCounts
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St Helena Resilience Forum
10 October 2019