Taps trickle
for 16 hours
CAY BAY--Residents of Philipsburg, Cul de Sac and several other areas on the Eastern side of the island awoke to trickling taps Thursday morning. The almost sixteen-hour interruption of the water supply was caused by a severed electricity cable.
The water supply to Philipsburg was affected as early as 8:00pm Wednesday. Taps began trickling again around 11:30am Thursday.
According to utilities company GEBE Managing Director William Brooks, a backhoe damaged the cable that feeds electricity to the main pump station, causing water supply to the tanks on the Cole Bay hill to drop by 50 per cent.
Brooks added that water levels in the tanks had been below minimum for the last couple of weeks due to water production problems. The very low level caused air to enter the main water distribution line, further compounding the problem. “The air in the main line caused a water barrier which created a low pressure in most of north and east side of the (Dutch side of the) island.”
The water works crew worked through the night to remove the air lock from the main line and water pressure increased during Thursday morning, Brooks said. The situation was resolved by noon Thursday.
