Jamaican News, January 22, 2018, National Water Commission Tackles Water Loss
Kingston, Jamaica (JIS) -The National Water Commission (NWC) will be placing increased focus on rural parishes as it intensifies activities to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) loss.
President of the National Water Commission (NWC), Mark Barnett, addressed a recent JIS Think Tank.
National Water Commission Tackles Water Loss: Mr. Barnett told JIS News that NWC loses up to 70 percent of the water it produces on a daily basis. “We produce just about 180 million gallons of water all across Jamaica. It, therefore, means that whatever revenue we are now generating, which is averaging on a monthly basis $2.3 million, we could be billing far greater if we have an improved system,” he contended.
“We are looking at other areas where the NRW is significantly greater than Kingston,” said President of the Commission, Mark Barnett, at a recent JIS Think Tank. “In Kingston, it’s about 60 percent. Clarendon and St. Elizabeth are two parishes with very high NRW in the order of 75 percent to 80 percent, and those are primary areas where we are focused on tackling because it is unsustainable,” he pointed out.
“Where we really want to get to is, where we produce water in a particular parish, the business model of that parish should allow it to pay for itself and all the attendant costs,” he added.
NRW refers to water that has been produced and is lost before it reaches the customer. This may be through leaks, theft, metering inaccuracies or other means.
National Water Commission Tackles Water Loss: 150 employees are being trained to ensure a highly skilled and dedicated NRW water management team at the NWC, to allow for the ongoing use of best practices after completion of the project.
Photo: (Adrian Walker) President of the National Water Commission(NWC), Mark Barnett, addresses a recent JIS Think Tank.
