First drinking water projects approved

The Daily Herald writes that the first projects to improve the supply of drinking water on Saba have been approved. Saba’s Executive Council and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment I&M reached an agreement last week during the so-called Caribbean Netherlands Week in The Hague. The investment involves US $1.2 million in 2014.
Measures have been selected to improve the drinking water supply in Saba and to make it more sustainable and dependable. The measures are aimed at increasing the water supply and to improve the water quality in the period 2014 to 2017.
The first measures will go into effect in the second half of this year, namely the construction of a greywater cistern in Windwardside, opposite the cemetery and to expand the grey-water cistern at the new school building in St. John’s. The expansion of the communal cistern in The Bottom is planned for the first half of 2015.
A system will also be built to pump the water of the reverse osmosis plant in Fort Bay up to The Bottom. This will cut down the cost of transporting the water up the hill by water trucks, stated Saba Commissioner Bruce Zagers. Also, a business case has been prepared for the water plant to enlarge its capacity. Water filters will be used to improve the quality of drinking water. The World Health Organisation (WHO) will start a pilot project to test a large number of water filters this summer. KWR Watercycle Research Institute will carry out this research in the Netherlands. Based on the outcome of this research, which is planned for late 2014, two to three systems will be selected and extensively tested on Saba in 2015, in consultation with the local government. “We will check which system is the most adequate for Saba,” Zagers told The Daily Herald. Low maintenance will be one of the aspects that will be carefully looked at. The water filters will be distributed for free.
The delegations of St. Eustatius and Saba had a meeting with the Ministry of Economic Affairs last week to discuss energy on the islands. Several investment projects have started on Saba and St. Eustatius in the area of sustainable energy. Also discussed were the consequences of the implementation of the new electricity and potable water law for the islands.