NWC announces June 8 restoration for Spring Village water system

The utility says temporary piped supply will be re-established by June 8, following significant mechanical damage to critical pumping equipment.

The restoration will benefit Bushy Park, Spring Village, Island Farm, Nightingale Grove, Five Acres, Round Wood, High House, Lloyd’s Pen, Rock Stone and Gutters – areas that have been without normal service since a pump failure forced a shutdown on May 12.

The announcement comes as a relief to residents who endured weeks of uncertainty. On May 17, Old Harbour News reported that the NWC had remained “silent” on a restoration timeline, with corporate communications director Delano Williams offering only that the “pump is still out” and that trucking “continues pending restoration.” At that time, residents contradicted the NWC’s claims, stating they had seen no water truck deliveries four days into the crisis.

The situation grew more desperate by May 23, when we again published an emotional plea from Kellyann Francis, a farmer in the Five Acres area. “We wake up from last week Wednesday morning and there was no water… no NWC water, no irrigation water, nothing,” Francis said. She reported that crops including okra, cucumber, sweet pepper, callaloo and scallion were already burning and wilting in the dry-season heat.

Francis also questioned why backup systems were not in place, comparing the absence of a spare pump to driving without a spare tyre. Some residents, she said, were being charged up to $600 for a single barrel of water from private trucks.

In its advisory today, the NWC confirmed that the pump equipment sustained “significant mechanical damage”, forcing a complete shutdown of the Spring Village water supply system. Subsequent assessments determined that the pump requires replacement – not merely repair – and that additional work is being done to reinforce the concrete base on which the pump is mounted.

“These activities involve specialized technical operations and are being undertaken as a matter of priority to facilitate a more reliable level of water supply,” the NWC stated. The damaged pump has already been removed, and installation of the replacement is now under way.

Last Friday, Old Harbour News visited the Spring Village facility and observed several feet of pipes believed to have been extracted from the deep well the main source for potable and irrigation supply. 

The NWC acknowledged “the challenge posed to our customers by the on-going disruption” and noted that teams “have been working assiduously to rectify multiple challenges that have hampered an earlier restoration.”

The June 8 restoration will provide temporary piped water, but the NWC cautioned that “further works will become necessary to implement longer term safeguards.” Updates on those additional timelines will be provided when a schedule is finalised.

In the meantime, the NWC says it will continue trucking water to affected communities. Customers in need of deliveries can contact the NWC Contact Centre at 888-225-5692.

For farmers like Francis, who had only recently restarted operations after setbacks from Hurricane Melissa, the restoration cannot come soon enough. “Think about the elderly, sick people, schools, everybody need water and we need it back right now,” she pleaded last month. “It really put a stop on farming and the time hot bad so we need water to function.”

With Monday’s deadline now set, residents across southwest St Catherine will be watching closely to see if the NWC delivers on its promise – or if dry pipes will greet them once again.