NWC monitoring water quality of St Catherine river, plant closed

The National Water Commission (NWC) is reporting that the water quality issue which has forced the shutdown of the Spanish Town Treatment Plant in St Catherine stems from the quality of effluent that is being discharged in to the river that supplies the facility.

The plant has been closed since Monday, resulting in water disruptions to several communities.

Yesterday, the NWC indicated that samples taken from the river detected a high acidic level in the water.

Subsequently, the commission says that this was an error and that, in fact, the plant is being impacted by a high alkaline content detected in water inflows.

The agency explains that, based on actual test results of the samples obtained, the reddish–brown coloured water taken at intake source showed ph values between 9.2 and 9.6.

The NWC says it initiated further investigations which so far has shown that the problem is being caused by the quality of effluent that is being discharged into the river source that serves the plant.

The company states that this is the second such instance in approximately two weeks as a similar issue forced water supply disruptions across the Spanish Town area on October 4, 2018.

The NWC says the water quality within the river source is being monitored to facilitate the restart of operations at the plant once the conditions are suitable for distribution of water supply.

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