The Water Shortage

As the worst drought in over 50 years grips Bermuda, suddenly water conservation has become the issue du jour.

One side of our tank is now empty. In the two years I’ve been here, we’ve never reached that point before. As a result, we’re taking the opportunity to have years of accumulated silt and dead pigeons removed from it. Last night we had to pump the final dirty couple of inches out. Some we collected in buckets and used to water our plants. The rest we just had to let run away. Even though it wasn’t usable, I couldn’t help but wince as I watched it go.

We’ve started turning off our leaky toilet between flushes, now reserved for solid waste. We’re taking shorter showers, and turning off the water while we lather up. I’ve stopped drinking tap water. With water truckers unable to meet demand – allegedly because the Government has been negligent in maintaining its own water tanks and catchment facilities – people are having to wait weeks for their tanks to be filled. And still no rain is forecast.

Yet despite the Government’s repeated appeals to save water and the closure of a laundromat at Shelly Bay, not everyone has got the message. Both politics.bm and cardboardutopia saw a Parks Department water truck watering the flowers on East Broadway the other day. And people are still taking their cars to Bull’s Head car wash. Yesterday morning I was shocked to see cars lined up to go through – something also noticed by one of the commenters on this site.

When there are people - including some of our seniors - whose tanks have already run dry, that can't be right.

Comments

[m on 09.07.05 at 11:15]

i think that bulls head carwash recycles water, but i am not 100% sure...

[loki on 09.07.05 at 11:45]

I, too, can vouch for the fact that the Parks Department were watering the flowerbeds on East Broadway on Thursday evening. Nice example to set, don't you think?

[Cancundreaming on 09.07.05 at 13:02]

I think it's easy to point to the Parks department and say "Look, there's the government again saying something and doing something else" i.e. not following their own directions. But i don't think that's where they are failing. Where they're failing, or where they need to improve, is not just say 'conserve water', but develop a system where it indicates the level of conservation required. Maybe from Level 1-5. Each level should instruct the population on what they should or shouldn't be doing. Whether that's washing our cars, using dishwashers, taking baths, watering our lawns or flowers etc. Maybe at a certain level incentives need to kick in, i.e. fines.

So while it’s easy and tempting to say the government is ignoring it’s own directive, we may just be at the point in terms of our water levels where it’s ok to water your lawn or plants once every 2 weeks instead of every third day and maybe that’s what the Parks department is doing. I’m not sure and I doubt any else is on here either. I just think we need more direction of what we shouldn’t and shouldn’t be doing, then we can all judge.

[Anon on 09.07.05 at 13:23]

More needs to be done to use the water that surrounds us.

[Terry on 09.07.05 at 14:55]

Anon, I could not agree more!!!!!!!! I was just flicking through the site and did not read your Post but had the same feeling. I do not want this to turn into another Political battle, or war of words. This could have been done 30 years ago. Back then it was alll about the status quo. They all had and still probaley have huge tanks and never thought that the good Lord would 'sell us out', cut us dry' so as to say. They never thought about, well you know, calling a water truck. No big deal, it will come. Sounds silly, but they were involved more in Front Street, Banking, Tourism. The well go dry? Never, I have money, I got Lindo's, Market Place, J.F.Burrows for water.

Desalinization plants should have been incorporated many years ago. This did not benefit them, since it would be a Government project. Then again, most were involved in Government. The Buck was where I first stated, not in reforming all that liquid around the Island. Not knowing what I am talking about when it comes to cost, I bet you could build one in Bermuda on a large scale, lets say for ten dollars. The same plant would cost 1 Million on the East Coast of the USA, just because of the filth and polution that one would have to extract.

This should have been done many years ago, and it's still viable and should be done. Just need some planning on where to store it etc. There are many empty Water Catches in Bermuda and ares where storage can be accomidated without abuse and interferance with land use. It's a matter of all the Posters who have so much to say with a keyboard actually making, speaking, yelling, and doing something about it.

It's a large venture, not surmountable at all. The old saying the pen is mightier than the sword is correct to some degree. The keyboard is OK, but the Voice of the people spoken words is far greater I believe. Please excuse spelling, the screws in my spine have taken their toll.

Lets suck it up, and spew it out. Dam, it's there for our taking.

Exempt companies want to do this and that. Ask them for a few dollars. Just think of the employment. Get those wasted wall sitters and put them to work, even though they may turn up once in a while. I thnk it would be a great project. And if they don't turn up, well no shower for the day, go see Granny.

Regards.

[Weeee on 09.07.05 at 21:17]

I heard all of the water trucks are busy with the Southampton Princess... their desalination plant broke apparently

[Sunshine Lover on 10.07.05 at 09:55]

This is one problem that certainly cannot be laid at the feet of a previous Government. This is pure and simple bad management of the current civil service and a complete lack of coordinated planning by the present government. This is a crisis that has been waiting to happen for 5 years at least. I can tell you monies allocated for an RO plant were diverted for more important things like the fast ferries. The Island uses more than 4.5million gallons per day and there is a total water production capacity of around 2.5million do the math. People we are only just entering what could be termed a drought - at the end of June we were just below the long term average. A drought is something akin to 1979 when we had 70% of the long-term average. The lowest recorded rainfall in a year has been 40% of the long-term average suck on that onion. Does everyone realize that the fire department relies on water in your neighbours tank to fight a possible fire in your house! You need more than a few bottles of water for that.
Now for a fact that everyone may not wish to hear. The cruise ships take water every time they come here. The ships are designed to stay in port no more than one day in Bermuda they are here for three days where do you think the water comes from. They cannot make water in port for technical reasons. This government continually increased the number of cruise ships without a single thought for their water service needs. The tourism people had no thought of talking to the water suppliers. When you have a captain saying I cannot get back to Boston without water do you think the ship waits in port until there is some spare water. So lets stop kidding around about blaming this problem on the past this can squarely been laid at the feet of the present.

[BillAkin on 10.07.05 at 09:57]

How about the Navy tanks at Tobacco Bay? They only need a bit of a rehabilation and would be a backup when water gets tight.
Regards, Bill

[Salt Kettle on 10.07.05 at 10:48]

You would think that being a wee spot in the middle o' the Atlantic would give us cause to be the world's leading water "de-salinationists".

[Sean on 11.07.05 at 10:03]

I remember seeing a HUGE water catchment at the annex in St. Georges, I would hope that this was kept up and is being used as a reserve. Regarding De-Salination, It's crazy that we haven't done it already. I remember when I was younger (Back in the early 80's I think) and there was a drought on as well, we should have started at that point.

Anyways, it's all good to be critical, however at this point it's not helpful. If you know of anyways to conserve water you should list them here. Also for the new expats that are down, most have never been brought up with the "Dont' waste the water mentality, if you see one or two, you should mention it to them as well.

Here are a few of my suggestions:

1. Save the water from your daily quick shower to flush the toilets with.

2. Call Government and tell them to stop watering the plants (I was eating lunch at Par-la-Ville park and they had about 4 sprinklers going for the hour that I was there, still going when I left and I'm sure going for awhile before).
3. Don't wash your car until the shortage is rectified.
4. Wash your dishes/laundry with full loads only (if you have a machine for both)
5. Buy bottle water to drink (if you can budget it) It would be nice to get a break on the price of bottled water if purchased in bulk and the current drought lasts any longer, just a thought.

[Lost in Flatts on 11.07.05 at 10:55]

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the US used to use a pretty modern plant down at the base, which from what I've been hearing could be started up again fairly easily. Good business option for the young entrepreneur out there, I expect 10% ;)

[anon on 11.07.05 at 11:50]

Yes, it's raining! Rain away!

:-)

[Dame of the Day on 11.07.05 at 11:59]

I too agree that the water, surrounding us could be used to "evaporate" Bermuda's water crisis. But I am sure that government forgot to mention that the reverse osmosis water plant erected on Fort Hill is accommodating such a crisis...

FYI: For those that don't or didn't know!

"Reverse osmosis, also known as hyperfiltration, is the finest filtration known. This process will allow the removal of particles as small as ions from a solution. Reverse osmosis is used to purify water and remove salts and other impurities in order to improve the color, taste or properties of the fluid. It can be used to purify fluids such as ethanol and glycol, which will pass through the reverse osmosis membrane, while rejecting other ions and contaminants from passing. The most common use for reverse osmosis is in purifying water. It is used to produce water that meets the most demanding specifications that are currently in place."

[Terry on 11.07.05 at 12:06]

Thank you Queen of the Day. Reverse/forward/desalinisation, whatever name you call it (boiling water). Lets get it done. Thanks for your info. Liquid for thought.

[Eric on 11.07.05 at 12:09]

I have heard desalinization plants are terribly expensive - you need to heat all of that water to force it to evaporate and then you need a cool surface on which to collect the evaporation. Even then, the water needs to be filtered after that, and the more steps you add, the more expensive it is.

Heating takes a lot of energy, and cooling takes a lot of energy, and this process requires both - not to mention the process of dealing with the salt, pumping the water, storing, etc.

Who would pay for the plant to be built? I'm pretty sure that would be "us", as in the residents of the island. I am fairly certain that there are already existing companies which do this if you want to pay in that way, or you would have a government run facility and then tax the island in order to pay for it. (so even if you don't use the service, you still get to pay for it)

One thing which would be interesting to look into is to see if one way to fulfill the heating process is if you could make use of the incinerator which is already by the water, and is already burning fuel (our trash), so perhaps that could be used for the heating stage in the desalinization plant?
On a similar note, if you are going to be heating water into steam and then cooling it to capture the salt-free water (the desalination process), you might as well make use of that heat energy and have it spin turbines in the step prior to the cooling process – that way you get power out of the deal as well.

I think many would agree that it is an obvious choice for an island out in the middle of the ocean, but where it gets harder to justify is when you have to decide who is going to pay for it, how they will pay for it, and who will run it.
I don’t know that the government has shown itself to be all that fantastic at running much else (the asphalt plant comes immediately to mind), so why would we want this thing to be run by government as well?

[TANKRAIN on 11.07.05 at 12:13]

TANK RAIN

RAIN RAIN RAIN AWAY

[Tiger Bay on 11.07.05 at 12:16]

How are the huge catches at Tobacco Bay, Castle Harbour, and SouthSide being used? Why have the catches at Port Royal and the Naval Annex been allowed to crumble/reforest? Government wants to buy shiney new machines. Why not fix what we have?

[Dame of the Day on 11.07.05 at 13:03]

Eric, government spends far too much money frivolously on things that serve no purpose to the community. Contrary to popular belief, such installments as the reverse osmosis water plant (that I mentioned in my previous blog) indicate that such measures were taken in the event that Bermuda should ever encounter a crisis such as this.

Let's think about this: There are approximately 100+ water trucks including government water trucks that service both the private and public sector. How hard is it to retrieve water from the ocean? The process is quite simple. Water is extracted from the ocean. Transported via these vehicles to the reverse osmosis water plant, filtrated and the water is then dispersed back to the same government water stations that are, connected to this plant, (located on Fort Hill). A total distance of 0.5 miles (if that). Irony or Coincidence?

[Somers on 11.07.05 at 13:12]

Ok. Call me crazy but why not a few locals living by the sea just invest in one of these bad boys:
http://www.makeh2o.com/swseries.php

During time of need - you make 6000 gallons a day and let the truckers line up in front of your house... 50 houses along South Shore - problem solved.

[Dame of the Day on 11.07.05 at 13:40]

Somers I could not agree with you more, which is what I indicated earlier. Now imagine if every Bermudian living by the sea invested in such a huge installment.

Headline Reads: Bermudians Are Urged to Conserve Bermuda's Ocean

[Somers on 11.07.05 at 14:13]

I already know one person who does it. And where I work they have their own RO machine too... If I lived by the ocean I would invest in one as well.

[anon with reason on 13.07.05 at 09:10]

Did anyone else see the RFP in yesterday's Royal Gazette from the Ministry of Works and Engineering for a reverse osmosis plant at our Tynes Bay facility? I briefly noticed it over someones shoulder and was wondering if anyone could shed more light on exactly what it is they're looking for?

I hope they're not trying to build a new facility when there are multiple facilities sprinkled across our island.. and ample tank space which only need minor repairs to be functional......

[Tiger Bay on 13.07.05 at 09:25]

Gov thinking: Why fix your rain catchments when you can buy a shiney new machine? Remember, government is run for the amusement of civil servants.

[loki on 14.07.05 at 00:35]

FYI - I looked out of my office window at 6pm tonight to note that - once again - the Parks Department had a 1000 gallon tanker truck on East Broadway to water the flowers.

[wingate on 14.07.05 at 07:14]

" Reverse/forward/desalinisation, whatever name you call it (boiling water)."

"I have heard desalinization plants are terribly expensive - you need to heat all of that water to force it to evaporate and then you need a cool surface on which to collect the evaporation. "

Since many of you don't seem to understand this. There are two methods of desalination: Reverse osmosis, which does not require heating the water, and distillation, which requires heating the water to steam.

[Bill Akin on 14.07.05 at 10:12]

The project at Tynes Bay is now four years on. They are a bit hampered because it is funded in house. When it comes on line it will be a great asset to Bermuda. Give them a call for an up date. The neglected water catchments. That is just poor house keeping. On the RO front pick up a copy of Sail magazine and look at the systems for boats. My guess is that with a small PV panel, a deep cycle battery and a small Ro you could make about 80 gallons a day.
Most of that while you are at work or asleep. How about using a dehumidifier to keep your house comfortable instead of an airconditioner. You could pipe the condensate to your tank. Just some ideas.
Regards, Bill

[Somers on 14.07.05 at 10:54]

ISLAND WIDE POWER OUTAGE - Latest scheme by Ashfield DeVent to force locals to conserve water... New slogan - one bucket at a time... ;)

[Tiger Bay on 21.07.05 at 08:32]

The water ship is coming with a million gallons! And it's raining!

Seriously, the cost of this shipment would have paid for the upkeep of the Tudor Hill and Naval Annex raincatches in past years with their combined, renewable storage of millions of gallons of water.

Now, that would be sustainable development.