South and central Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) consumers breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, after the desalination plant at Point Lisas resumed operations after an eight-day shutdown. In a release yesterday, head of corporate communications at WASA, Ellen Lewis, said the Desalination Company (Desalcott) plant was up and running again.
Last week, Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Ganga Singh said the planned shutdown was necessary to facilitate expansion works to increase delivery to 40 million gallons a day by January 2014. Desalcott had shut down the plant on November 20 for expansion and maintenance work. The planned six-day shutdown, however, was extended by two days after the company encountered unforeseen problems when trying to resume production.
Yesterday, Lewis said with the plant back up, customers in areas in Central, South and Northwest would gradually see normal scheduled supply being restored. Lewis thanked customers for playing their part “in minimising the effects of the reduction in supplies from the desalination plant by reducing consumption and by generally becoming more efficient in their water-use habits.”