World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019
Utility Service User Partnership for Domestic Potable Water System Adoption in Barbados
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Emerging and Innovative Technologies and International Perspectives
ABSTRACT
To build resilience of domestic potable water reliability to supply interruptions, the Barbados Water Authority created the personal tank program (PTP) in 2016. The PTP offers a tank solution to customers either 1. free, or 2. as a 5-year interest free hire purchase agreement. The system comprises a 400 gallon tank, 0.6 HP pump, concrete base, and plumbing fittings. By July 2018, the PTP installed 50 free and 215 purchased systems. 18 of the free systems remain inoperational due to the inability of program participants to afford the unexpected/non-advertised plumbing and electrical works. To avoid pump electricity costs (USD 35/month), program participants store standing water in the tank (potentially stagnant) and take water directly from the utility supply. At least 30 purchased systems store water in this non-flow through design mode. This paper presents an overview and recommended improvements to the PTP adoption framework, tank system design, and operation.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank the following persons for their assistance in completing this research paper: BWA General Manager Mr Keithroy Halliday; BWA PTP Employees Mr. Drakes, Mr. Downes, Ms. Newman, Ms. Carter, Mr. Thompson, Ms. Ramjit, Ms. Watts and Mr Singh; Mr. Barrow, Environment Protection Department, Ministry of Environment and National Beautification; Mr. Gaskin, Environmental Health Department, Ministry of Health, and Ms. Ayanna Young-Marshall, Department of Management Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. We would also like to thank University of South Florida (USF) Education Abroad for providing travel funding to support this project.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 1243510. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2019: Emerging and Innovative Technologies and International Perspectives
Pages: 173 - 181
Editors: Gregory F. Scott and William Hamilton, Ph.D.
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8232-2
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: May 16, 2019
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