If there was any proof that the NWC (National Water
Commission) pipe system needed a serious overhaul, this incident proved it
quite dramatically on Wednesday September 24th 2015!
While I was away on the MICO
University College Campus hard at work on my Reflection for my CABM (Counseling
Approach for Behaviour Management), the National Water Commission (NWC) Stanton
Terrace pipeline finally burst after years of neglect as reported in the
article “Burst
Pipes Send Water In The Air Stripping Powerlines In Swallowfield Community”,
published Thursday September 24, 2015, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
The Stanton Terrace pipeline ruptured at around 3pm on Wednesday September 24th 2015, sending water gushing out of a gaping hole in the Swallowfield community as shown below.
Residents in the community of Swallowfield, where I reside, could
only stand and watch helplessly as good water went to waste even as they faced
daily lock-offs, sometimes for the entire day.
#ThoseDamLevels
at the Mona Reservoir are: September 22, 2015 - 20.8% of capacity, September
23, 2015 - 21.0% of... http://t.co/nACQ1U95E3
—
NWCJamaica (@NWCjam) September
23, 2015
This at a time when the Mona Reservoir, the source of water
in Kingston, is at 21% capacity, which is seen as being critically low!
NWC Water Main
burst because pipes are too old – Why Water Lock-off a bad policy in the long
term
The cause?
Old pipes that have not been repaired for some time or have
been broken and repair numerous times. Like a chain with a lot of weak links,
this pipe just couldn't handle the fluctuations in water pressure as the NWC
turned the water on and off, so it finally gave way.
The NWC has since locked off the water main to effect repairs
to the Stanton Terrace pipeline as per this tweet via NWC’s Twitter account.
@karendmadden
@JamaicaGleaner
The main in Swallowfield is now locked off and we are mobilizing our team to
effect repairs by tonight.
— NWCJamaica (@NWCjam) September
23, 2015
So water lock-off cannot be a long term response to the
Drought, as if this continues, more weakened pipes from frequent repair will be
ruptured in a similar dramatic manner.
This is all the more reason for the Government of Jamaica to
implement Waste Water Recycling to convert water from Sewage Works into potable
and drinkable water as I'd argued in my blog article
entitled “Water
Shortage at MICO - How I'm dealing with the Water Shortage in Kingston”.
So aside from replacing the pipes yet again, what are the
long-term solutions that the NWC and the GOJ could pursue?
Waste Water
Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting – Why Water Resource independence can also
benefit farming
Waste Water Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting are the best
long-term solution, as it would recapture and reuse water that would otherwise
go down the toilet. Even better would be if Jamaican households had Waste Water
Recycling systems that converted Waste Water from their kitchen sinks and
toilets back to drinkable water.
After all, once you use the water, it goes into the Earth,
which filter it into underground aquifers and rivers. Assuming it doesn’t
absorb any Rare Earth Metals from the Riverton City Dump, this water is the
very same water that flows into the Mona Reservoir and ends up being processed
into drinking water by the NWC.
This water may also pick up fecal matter from the River as
well. But due to the low turbidity of the water and the natural filtering effect
of the River as well as organic life that feast on this material, what little
is left can be easily remove by the NWC Water processing.
So by practicing Waste Water Recycling, we basically cut out
the long natural process for a quicker recovery of this precious commodity.
Ditto too Rainwater Harvesting, as again as the water already falls from the
skies, all that’s needed is an activated Carbon Filter, additives to remove Calcium
Carbonate that causes hardness from the Water and an Ozone Sparging Unit to kill
bacteria and make it potable and thus drinkable.
We already completed test-run of Electronic Waste Recycling
under a NSWMA (National Solid Waste Management) E-Waste Collection Pilot
Project in a bid to recover Rare Earth Metals before this happens as explained
in my blog
article entitled “NSWMA's
E-Waste Collection Pilot Project - Why End-of-life Policy for E-Waste
Collection needed in Jamaica”.
Therefore an islandwide Waste Water Recycling Project is
needed to recycle Waster Water as well. Combined with Rainwater Harvesting,
this would potentially alleviate the dependence on the NWC in much the same way
Solar Panels help Jamaicans to get of JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company)
Electricity Grid.
In the long term too,
it would better insulate Jamaica against future droughts as Global Warming is
now a global reality since 2014 as reported in my blog article
entitled “JMA,
@NASA and @NOAA say 2014 Hottest Year on Record - How Wageningen University
revealed Humans causing Climate Change”.
Potentially too, the organic sludge can also be purified and
used as fertilizer, as its rich in phosphorus and Nitrates. Some of it could even be converged to BioGas
and use to power the JUTC Buses, being a the composition of BioGas, which is
rich in methane, is similar to Natural Gas as explained in my blog article
entitled “GENeco
Bio-Bus runs on Bio-Methane - How 10% of UK's Heating from Human Organic Waste
Alone makes Shit worthwhile as GOJ Bio-Fuel Revolution needed”.
So the Agriculture sector could also benefit from lower cost
Fertilizer, as we literally produce all the fertilizer we’ll ever need. All
that's needed is a change in the National mindset and the removal of that
psychological barrier against drinking recycled Waste Water, as Water is Life!
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