Imagine returning home after a hard workday, navigating the intense Vincy heat or unpredictable weather, juggling sweat, long commutes, difficult customers and colleagues — you’re just looking forward to washing the day off, attending to your loved ones, satisfying the hunger pangs and rest. Or maybe it’s just probably one of those four things you do after the long day — but at some point, you will need water to supplement these activities one way or another.
Recently, a couple of my fellow villagers in Akers highlighted the ongoing water woes which have been plaguing the community for years. As a resident of the community, I’d like to thank my fellow villagers for bringing much-needed attention to this situation because it was very noticeable that only when the issue was highlighted did water return, but alas, only for a few days, until the media hype died down.
Notwithstanding the above, I am aware that there are other areas in the country that are also being affected by CWSA’s poor service and I do empathise with my fellow citizens.
In this case, though, I can only provide context for the current situation that my fellow villagers and I are experiencing in Akers, because this is where we reside.
It is no secret that during the dry season, disruptions to the service can be expected due to rationing of the resource. But enlighten me — why is it that during periods of abundant rainfall, our pipes are dry and pressure is low, days and weeks on end?
It’s also no news that citizens have been advised to invest in their own residential storage, which, in the case of Akers, most have done.
But let’s reason. If I’ve invested in storage for my household (which might be an average of 4 persons), you and I know that storage is only a temporary solution. According to the CDC Emergency Water Supply Guidelines:
“During a water-related emergency or outbreak, safe drinking water may not be available. Prepare for an emergency by creating and storing a 3-day supply of water that will meet your family’s needs. Store at least 1 gallon of water per day for each person.”
These guidelines do not even include daily activities such as washing, cleaning and cooking.
In Akers, a three-day backup water supply will still have you like a fish out of water. As such, people have sought to invest in storage that could last about one week or longer, but not everyone is able to sustain a reserve past the one-week mark.
Additionally, for people who rely on the main line to restore their backup, if the water doesn’t return in the main supply before their reserves are depleted, their tanks remain empty. Remember, this is only a temporary solution.
Furthermore, if there is no rainfall at the specific time when the reserves are depleted and water still has not returned in the mainline, what are residents to do, CWSA?
It has become a norm for residents of Akers to go to sleep and wake up with no water in their pipes. Sometimes, it returns briefly on mornings around 6 a.m. and before 9 a.m., it vanishes, never to return until late in the evening in droplet form.
People struggle daily to organise themselves for work and children for school in the early morning hours because of this massive inconvenience and for those who have long commutes to work and school and must leave home extra early, their chances of getting any pipe-borne water is little to none.
The issue is not resolved on evenings when they return home. Have you considered CWSA, how inconvenient it is to bathe using a bucket daily, especially as someone who is ailing, has movement restrictions or is differently abled?
What is worse, we’ve been experiencing numerous damage to our plumbing systems because of the inconsistent water pressure. Other than the usual extremely low pressure, water returns at times at such a high pressure with an overload of air that residents have complained about busted pipes, shower heads, damaged washing machines, and the list continues. Are you compensating us for these damaged assets, CWSA?
Within the last two years, we’ve also observed a heavy concentration of chlorine in the pipe-borne water. In 2024, for the first time, my household had no choice but to begin including bottled water on our grocery list, in an effort to stretch our storage reserves, curb dehydration and mitigate the lingering chlorine taste.
Interestingly, St. Vincent has been well-regarded for its abundantly fresh, surface water, volcanic mountain streams, and local compliance with WHO drinking water standards that are supposed to be monitored by the CWSA. Are you actively monitoring this CWSA?
As a utility which prides itself on providing an essential service, CWSA, you are doing an absolutely piss-poor job. All of Akers, and by extension many citizens, might agree that you have become overbearing and distasteful and here’s why:
Time and time again, calls to the utility are either futile, met with a lack of concern and no explanation of what the issue is or how it is being addressed. I quote the old rhetoric that “only he who feels it knows it” because I’m certain that if any CWSA employee with a responsibility for maintaining these systems was residing in Akers, then this issue would have been rectified many moons ago.
Story time — About three years ago, while still in the trenches of these never-ending water woes and having been without water for a substantial portion of the month, I received a bill of around EC$77. Knowing the basic service charge is $25, I was fully aware that I did not consume $50+ worth of water and I couldn’t possibly have, because the pipes, for most of the month, were dry. Upon investigating further, a utility representative casually explained that the utility had to overcharge me to “balance their books”, in an effort to ensure profitability for the month.
I was assured that the overcharge will be offset in the upcoming months, once the books have balanced. Not until about two and three months later did they indeed offset the overcharge. Yes, you read right: the basic service charge was my bill for two consecutive months, even when in those months I used water. Remember, CWSA has to balance their books.
What does this say about the credibility of CWSA? Exactly what financial model is your accounting department using to purposely overcharge a customer who has not consumed that equivalent volume of water and to rub salt in the wounds, overcharge a customer who was not even getting a consistent water supply?
Furthermore, exactly what readings are your metre readers taking each month and who is fabricating these consumption figures? How disconnected or fraudulently aligned are your metering and accounting departments, CWSA? Is communication also an issue within your organisation?
Quite frankly, I question daily if we’re really living in the 21st Century, because what is the point of indoor plumbing anymore? And why pay a utility for negligent or non-existent service which is quick to disconnect you for an unpaid bill?
Some years ago, while Akers was battling this situation before it managed to get progressively worse, I wrote an article. While I reiterate some of the same questions below, there are a few new ones for CWSA:
- Is reservoir expansion planning on the CWSA’s agenda for development? Each year, numerous homes and commercial properties are coming on stream. What innovative solutions and best practices are you undertaking to cater to the growing demand for water, while mitigating the effects of climate change on our island?
- Why is it that the Montreal and Majorca water systems tend to be the first to fall in the red level for capacity compared to the other systems in St. Vincent? Is this a problem you intend to address as the sole water provider in the country? If you haven’t done so as yet, what is preventing you from doing so?
- Have you fixed the damaged tank at the Majorca system as yet? Or are thousands of gallons of water still being lost here daily?
- Are the skills of your water reservoir engineers being frequently assessed to determine if they are performing their jobs capably and thoroughly?
- How often are the main district pipes and minor pipes inspected and repairs conducted?
- Akers’ residents have been nonchalantly advised for well over four years that the problem is being worked on, but to date the problem cannot be isolated in order to find an effective working solution. Have your teams really attempted to isolate the problem? Let’s be honest, four years is a very long time to identify a problem. Please conjure a new and believable excuse, or actually isolate the problem and resolve it.
- How is it that since 2026 started, not even one water truck has been sent to alleviate the water stress in Akers? Did the water trucks encounter unsolvable problems too?
- Why is it that only when people call to complain or the issue highlighted is a rationing schedule issued publicly?
- Do you actively monitor the area to ensure no malicious activity is happening with the water lines?
To the public: is there a regulatory body/ entity to which the CWSA can be reported, whether internally or externally? Has legal action ever been taken against this utility and what is the possibility of doing so? If there is, it would be useful to know — because I am aware that CWSA is not the only unscrupulous water utility within the Caribbean region and greater accountability needs to be taken by this monopoly and an example made of it.
To the new and old administration: we are aware that a goal of any government is to see steady population growth. Exactly how do you intend to accommodate such growth without mandating that proper provisions be made to expand reservoir systems to meet the basic needs of growing demand?
To the management and staff of the CWSA responsible for administration as well as technical operation and maintenance of the water system, be reminded of this: you can fool some of the people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. Your behaviour as a service provider is now being interpreted as spiteful and unorthodox. As an employee, you should be ashamed of the poor quality, level of service and lack of integrity which your organisation is casting on the residents of the Akers community and, by extension, the people of St. Vincent.
On behalf of the Akers Community
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