Published 27 March 2017
*** Local Caption *** A resident catches water at one of the sources.
May Pen, Clarendon — The Clarendon Municipal Corporation is taking steps to improve domestic water supplies for the parish’s northern communities where residents are mostly without a reliable supply.
As part of that drive, Mayor of May Pen Winston Maragh has engaged the support of water resource experts from the National Water Commission, Rural Water Supply Limited, and Water Resources Authority, a news release said.
Maragh reiterated at a recent Minor Water committee meeting that the Clarendon Municipal Corporation could no longer afford to continue the trucking of water as the primary method of serving affected communities. He described water trucking as expensive and inadequate.
He said the local authority was looking to find more sustainable methods to fix the parish’s water problems by identifying and developing as many community-based sources as possible.
The mayor has asked parish councillors to identify potential water sources in their divisions so that water supply experts can assess their viability.
To that end, visits to potential water sources began in January at Mt Pleasant, in Mocho; Thomas River near Thompson Town; and Coffee Piece in Ritches, northern Clarendon.
The experts found the yield at three of the four sources to be promising, particularly those at Ritches — suggesting potential for viable systems.
These sources, primarily springs and rivers, can produce a combined supply of 202,641 gallons of water per day and serve upwards of 5,600 rural residents. They have been earmarked for further prospecting by the Rural Water Supply Limited, the news release said.
The water tour continued in Birds Hill in south-east Clarendon and Redlands, Red Hills and the Bull Head Mountain in northern Clarendon in February.
