Millions down the drain as crooks plunder NWC

Vandals have been tampering with National Water Commission (NWC) systems, sometimes stealing pieces of critical equipment, causing disruption to the company's operations for hours and even days at a time.

In one of the latest attacks, thieves made off with equipment used to operate pumping stations in the southern parts of the island.

Delano Williams, acting corporate public relations manager at the NWC, told The Gleaner that the New Forest water supply system in St Elizabeth is often targeted by people who force access through a fence and illegally shut down the pump in a bid to use welding and torch equipment to puncture the pipes and fabricate illegal connections.

He said that despite the several million gallons of water that the station outputs, the NWC had been receiving complaints that the commodity was not reaching the taps of registered customers, which cause the company to realise there was a problem.

“After our [investigations], we had detected and removed over 86 illegal connections, ranging from half-inch to one-inch lines. We've also pulled up from our network over 500 metres of pipelines,” he said, noting that many of these connections ran into several parts of the community, primarily in the Bull Savannah and Duff House areas.

“What we are finding is that they are becoming even more brazen in their efforts to access the pump that is running at high pressures of over 100 PSI (pounds per square inch), sometimes 200 PSI in instances,” he said.

RISKY

Williams said there were two such instances discovered within the last month, adding that they not only pose a risk to the commission's equipment and its ability to supply its customers but also could endanger NWC employees.

Over in Hanberry, Clarendon, which primarily supplies Longville Park Phase 3 and other nearby areas, the electrical components, including wires, were also stolen off the pumps.

“These are very critical wires that run our operation and that we rely on heavily to run our pumps, to run our motors, and to distribute water supply. So, it is almost a cowardly but selfish act in whatever value they may think [is there],” Williams said.

“Once you have this kind of thing, you literally have to rewire the component box or sometimes rewire some aspect of the plant, depending on the level of damage that is caused by the vandalism,” he added.

The NWC was able to restore service in 24 hours in that instance.

The NWC was unable to provide The Gleaner with an estimate of the damage done to its systems by vandals and thieves as it is still quantifying the losses. However, Williams said that the electrical equipment found at most sites cost several hundred thousand dollars, and in some areas, the cost of repairs surged into the millions with some replacement parts having to be imported.

Williams referenced the 2015 vandalism incident at the Goshen Pen pumping station in St Catherine, which forced the NWC to install electric fencing in an effort to safeguard the facility.

“Some of our facilities, by the very nature of where the water sources are, whether they are well or river sources, they are in somewhat underpopulated or in remote areas, and while we take great pains to fence them [and] to have guards in some instances, it is difficult to prevent persons from accessing them at different times,” he explained.

He could not say whether the state agency was considering the installation of more electric fences in the problem areas.

“We have lost, in instances, over three million gallons on an average day because of these illegal connections,” said Williams.

He noted that in some instances, several illegal water lines ran hundreds of metres into different farms, which were not using drip irrigation but instead had the water spraying out constantly even during heavy rainfall, “sucking our main pipeline dry”.

Although there have been no arrests in any of the locations mentioned, Williams stated that the NWC has ramped up its monitoring activities and is prepared to pursue the matter to the fullest extent to have offenders prosecuted.

“When we got to the plant, there was no one on the scene but the police are continuing their investigation ... ,” he told The Gleaner.

Williams appealed to residents and business owners located near NWC facilities to assist in alerting the commission or the police if they see anyone trying to gain unlawful access to its plants.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com