Water nightmare ends for residents
Published:Saturday | June 5, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
When a mother of two who lives in the Maxfield Avenue area of Kingston woke up Thursday and saw water coming from her kitchen pipe, she thought it was a dream.
"Me jump up and go look, 'cause me couldn't believe it. A months now me no see no water inna di pipe," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
Her fortune changed because the National Water Commission (NWC) announced two days ago that it had lifted water restrictions that had been imposed in the Corporate Area over the past nine months.
NWC Public Relations Manager Charles Buchanan said the company had also rescinded a notice that made it illegal to use water for non-essential purposes such as washing cars and watering lawns.
Buchanan explained that the NWC's decision was a direct result of the heavy rains across the island over the past week.
Up to Thursday, the Hermitage Dam was at its full capacity of 393 million gallons, while the Mona Reservoir was well over 80 per cent of its 809 million-gallon capacity.
At the worst point of the yearlong drought, the Hermitage Dam capacity plunged to 22 per cent, while the Mona Reservoir's dipped to 30 per cent.
Lowest records
These numbers, according to Buchanan, were the lowest at both storage facilities for any extended period in 25 years.
This forced the NWC to restrict water supplies to specific days or specific hours in communities throughout the Corporate Area and other eastern parishes.
The mother of two from Maxfield Avenue told The Gleaner she had been without piped water since October last year.
She said except for one day in December last year, Thursday was the first time she was getting piped water in her home.
"Sometimes me haffi buy water or beg people weh me know fi bring likkle water fi me," she said, explaining how she coped.
Despite this, she said she now has a $6,000 bill from the NWC for water supply between January and May this year.