Eulalee Thompson

'Less than 10 per cent of water is contaminated and rather than increasing, it is trending down.'

- Basil Fernandez

The Mona dam property is, without a doubt, one of the most pleasant and safe locations in Kingston for an early-morning jog.

Not so pleasant, though, is the now-and-again sighting of piles of garbage - such as old shoes, the ubiquitous styrofoam lunch containers, paper, pampers and, even on the odd occasion, swollen carcasses - flowing from the catchment areas into Kingston's main source of piped water. Surely, this must be evidence of poor waste disposal habits and management at the household and national levels.

Anyway, the sorry sight of garbage in the reservoir prompted me to have a rather lengthy chat with Basil Fernandez, hydrogeologist and managing director of the Water Resources Authority (WRA). I also consider him to be one of this country's 'walking encyclopaedias' on anything pertaining to water. Of course, I first wanted to get an overview of the quality of the country's ground water/raw water (that is water before it is treated), the direct responsibility of the WRA, even before considering issues pertaining to finished water quality.

"Overall, across Jamaica our water quality is quite good," said a very confident Mr. Fernandez.

He admitted though that there were still some sticky problem areas primarily associated with industrialisation, improper disposal of sewage (especially in Kingston) and sea water intrusion. He, however, quickly reassured me by indicating that "less than 10 per cent of water is contaminated and rather than increasing it is trending down but we still face challenges in terms of housing solution and limestone ... We have to work with the National Environment and Planning Agency."

Industrialisation

On the matter of industrialisation, Mr. Fernandez explained that the WRA is trying to work with the sugar-rum industry to come up with more efficient methods to reuse the sugar cane waste. Some of this waste apparently ends up in water sources such as the Black River and the Rio Minho.

In the bauxite industry, Mr. Fernandez said that the bauxite-alumina plants have made significant improvement with 'sealed systems' that hold more of the industry's chemical inputs (some of which end up as 'waste') and making them not so readily available to migrate to ground water and soil.

He said that the bauxite companies, over the last few years, have introduced the 'thickened mud system' and/or completely sealed systems and have been recycling their effluent, reducing the waste entering ground and raw water supplies.

Improper sewage disposal

Flood waters overflow the catchment for the Mona Dam on Gordon Town Road, St. Andrew, during heavy rains. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Some readers might be learning this bit of information for the first time, but Mr. Fernandez reminded me that only 20 per cent of the city of Kingston is sewered and a lot of that sewage goes into the western and other treatment plants and end up in the beautiful (or maybe once beautiful) Kingston Harbour. The rest of the Kingston population (not yet sewered) is using mainly soak-away pits. Hopefully, not too much of that waste is ending up in the ground water.

Mr. Fernandez pointed out that the planned Soapberry treatment facility (many years in waiting now) should pick up the slack in sewage treatment. He said, however, that this is a very expensive project which will have to be undertaken through loans and it may still be more than a year before it actually takes off.

Sea water intrusion

Issues of sea water intrusion, Mr. Fernandez said, occurs primarily in Clarendon and St. Catherine, where some wells were set up during a period when there was no control over who drilled wells. New laws now provide more monitoring and potential drillers have to apply for licences before undertaking a project.

Finished water quality

The quality of finished water, the treated water which flows in your tap, of course, deserves an entire article and is really the responsibility of the National Water Commission (NWC) and the Ministry of Health. However, Mr. Fernandez sits on the NWC board and could endorse the safety of this country's finished water.

"As far as I know, the water goes through a sand filter system and then is treated with chlorine. Several samples are taken monthly at the Hope Filter and Hope Treatment plants and reported ... There is no problem with bacteria," he said.

Send feedback to eulalee.thompson@gleanerjm.com.