NWC’s Constant Spring plant upgrade plugs $189m annual loss
Published:Friday | April 28, 2023 | 1:08 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
Matthew Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, is lauding the almost $800 million restorative work done at the Constant Spring Water Treatment Plant in St Andrew as integral to building Jamaica’s water resilience.
The plant, one of the National Water Commission’s (NWC) major production facilities, has two clear water storage reservoirs that have a combined capacity of approximately 5.5 imperial gallons.
The tanks were built over 60 years ago and, in 2019, the roof sheeting and support structure of one of the tanks with four cells collapsed, resulting in the facility being out of service. However, initial works were carried out in December 2019 to reconstruct the new roof structure.
The following year, the roof of the second tank collapsed after torrential rains, also rendering it unusable.
Work done on both tanks included roof demolition and removal works, design and construction of a reinforced concrete roof, construction of pipe works, waterproofing works, and supply and installation of level sensor equipment.
Before the renovation, the NWC says it was losing approximately $189 million of gross annual revenue.
“This is a significant cog in the wheel for water distribution in Kingston and St Andrew, and it is as important for the residents to understand that we have made the investment, and that has benefited significantly,” Samuda said on a tour of the facility yesterday.
“Prior to this investment, this facility would have leaked four and a half million gallons a day. Certainly in a drought like the one we’re having, we would not have been able to afford four and half million a day of leakage. The investment has paid dividends. It forms a part of our broader strategy to ensure we completely renovate, restore and have water in Jamaica enter a bit of its own renaissance,” he said.
The facility mainly serves Half-Way Tree, Norbrook, Cherry Gardens, and Stony Hill, plus other areas.
“We’re investing in the intakes, we’re investing in the processing capacity, we’re investing in the storage and we’re investing in the distribution network. And we hope that, as we continue to invest, certainly in areas like the Content Water Treatment Plant, which will then meet midway in that space with that 15-million gallon injection, Portmore, Kingston and St Andrew will have stable water supply,” he said.
On Wednesday at a post-Cabinet press briefing, the minister also extolled the significant investment NWC has been making in Jamaica’s water infrastructure. He pointed to a signed contract last December for the development of a water treatment plant in Content, St Catherine, to commence construction in July. That will provide 15 million gallons daily to the Corporate Area.
He also shared that efforts by the agency in 2015 have reduced leaks to 38 per cent.
“The investment in capital infrastructure is adequately preparing the country to deal with the extended periods of drought to come,” he stated.
And while he asserted that these ongoing investments are key to building resilience going forward, he acknowledged that it will take time.
“We know there has been a chronic level of underinvestment in the NWC over the last 40 years, we are correcting that. The management team and board of directors at NWC are working around the clock to correct many of the issues that precede their tenure there,” he said.