Sept. 28, 2005 – Henry Boyd's customers don't like it when the St. John water hauler brings them brown water.
"They don't want to pay me," he said.
He said the intermittent problem seems to arise every time the Seven Seas desalination plant at the V.I. Water and Power Authority's St. John facility comes back on line after being shut down. However, at one point it went on for "months and months…nobody did anything about it," he said.
Water hauler Lyndal Anthony said he thinks the brown water appears anytime WAPA uses the Seven Seas plant, rather than after periods of non-use. The plant is used as a backup to WAPA's main facility.
Water hauler Anthony said that WAPA should fix it now while it's slow, rather than wait for the busy winter season to take the plant off line. "That's when we make our money," he said, adding that despite numerous complaints to WAPA officials, nothing happens to fix it.
"Either fix it or get rid of it," Boyd added.
Anthony said that his customers should also complain to WAPA.
It's not the plant, said WAPA spokesman Patricia B. Simmonds. She said that when there is a problem it comes from the storage tank. "The main tank is in bad shape and contributes to occasional spikes in discolored water," she said.
According to Simmonds, plans are underway to repair the tank and that, even so, tests show the water is not contaminated. Simmonds said that when water haulers experience a problem, they should notify Michael Quetel in the Water Department at 774-3552, extension 2089.
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