Murky water plaguing residents of Green Acres Estate in St. Catherine

By Nakinskie Robinson   

 

In its purest state, water is meant to be tasteless, odourless and colourless.

 

But that is not the case for residents of Green Acres Estate in St. Catherine.

 

The water running through their pipes is murky with a dirt brown tint, and this has residents concerned.

 

One resident, Thomas Bryce, shared a video showing the odd looking water flowing from his bathroom faucet.

 

Vanessa White Barrow, President of the Green Acres Citizen Association, said though this is not the first time residents have seen brown water coming from their taps, this latest instance has been the longest yet. 

 

"Since Wednesday morning, we've been getting complaints, so we reached out to NWC, and they made their checks, and we were told that they were undertaking some major repairs, so some other residue was spilling out into the water supply, but it should clear up soon, so we never expected that on Thursday and on Friday, we would still be seeing groundwater coming out of our taps. We were told that they would be flushing the lines, and apparently it still continues," she told Radio Jamaica News. 

 

She said since the community's pipeline had several leaks, remedial work has caused the previous questionable water quality and residents have been relying on tank and bottled water.

 

But this time time around, she contended, residents were not notified that they would be facing this issue. 

 

"Even since Wednesday, we really haven't seen an advisory to say persons should be alert. I mean, we've been seeing some pictures where the filter is full of dirt. In the past, we've seen large blocks of rock even show up in the water supply." 

 

A release from the National Water Commission, dated January 31, said the Green Acres Water Facility was out of operation as a result of mechanical issues and regular water supply would soon be restored.

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But there was no mention of the low water quality residents are now facing.

 

Asked when the issue will be rectified, NWC's acting corporate communications manager Delano Williams said a team was dispatched Friday to record individual complaints, while a general flushing of the pipeline will also be done. 

 

"We suspect there may have been an intrusion from a breakpoint, which was recently appeared, so it seems a little bit of dirt got into the line," he said. 

 

Mrs. Barrow Whyte told Radio Jamaica News that since the issue is recurring, residents have installed filters.