Developer raises questions about change in NWC water quality reports

 

Civil engineer and developer Dr. Christopher Burgess has raised questions about the move by the National Water Commission (NWC) to stop reporting total coliform in its water quality report and instead focus solely on faecal coliform. 

 

Earlier this year concerns were raised about the NWC water quality reports sent to the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation. This, after questions were raised about the level of faecal coliform in the water supplied by the commission. 

 

Dr. Burgess says the latest report from the NWC from March and April showed that the tests were done using different measuring sticks. 

 

"I don't know why they're using faecal coliform, they should use E. coli and follow international standards. It's not more expensive. Let's follow the international guidelines. The international guidelines say to use E. coli. So again, you know, we're using something which is not relevant, we can't compare it," he insisted.

 

"It's unbelievable because from January to April has been relatively dry so there's no real reason for any dramatic improvement in water quality unless several management measures were put in place, and if that was the case, that too should have been noted in their report that they would have cleaned up some treatment plants or put in additional chlorine processes or storage facilities. So, you know, the reports are a little vacant and don't really bring reassurance," Dr. Burgess continued.  

 

He argued that the previous format used by the NWC in its water quality report was "very straightforward" while the new format is "much more difficult to figure out and you have to read between the lines carefully".