Dear Editor,
We are in a very bad situation with our water supply in Kingston, and people are not being given information to be able to do their part. Why is the National Water Commission not using the information at their fingertips, such as the daily inflows into the system, the losses due to evaporation, etc, to give the population a daily projection of supply remaining at the daily outflow rate?
So, remaining storage minus losses, plus estimated inflows, divided by the rate of outflow for the day would give a simple idea of how many days of water supply is remaining. Such a number would even give the man I saw on TVJ with an overflowing and leaking plastic washbasin, with water from the hose constantly running, an idea of just how bad a situation Kingston faces. Maybe he might even turn it off when the washbasin is full.
Also, the Government should point out the consequences of running out of water, such as people dying of thirst, the hospitals having to reduce operations or close, the sewerage system and toilets becoming inoperable, businesses closing due to lack of water, etc.
It is impossible to truck water to the entire city of Kingston to supply everyone, so there would be hundreds of thousands of rioting people, dirty, thirsty residents with unflushable toilets, angry at the politicians who brought them to that state. A wonderful thought!
But, no. The Government thinks that our ignorance is bliss.
Howard Chin, PE
Member, Jamaica Institution of Engineers
hmc14 @cwjamaica.com
Tell us the true story, NWC!
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We are in a very bad situation with our water supply in Kingston, and people are not being given information to be able to do their part. Why is the National Water Commission not using the information at their fingertips, such as the daily inflows into the system, the losses due to evaporation, etc, to give the population a daily projection of supply remaining at the daily outflow rate?
So, remaining storage minus losses, plus estimated inflows, divided by the rate of outflow for the day would give a simple idea of how many days of water supply is remaining. Such a number would even give the man I saw on TVJ with an overflowing and leaking plastic washbasin, with water from the hose constantly running, an idea of just how bad a situation Kingston faces. Maybe he might even turn it off when the washbasin is full.
Also, the Government should point out the consequences of running out of water, such as people dying of thirst, the hospitals having to reduce operations or close, the sewerage system and toilets becoming inoperable, businesses closing due to lack of water, etc.
It is impossible to truck water to the entire city of Kingston to supply everyone, so there would be hundreds of thousands of rioting people, dirty, thirsty residents with unflushable toilets, angry at the politicians who brought them to that state. A wonderful thought!
But, no. The Government thinks that our ignorance is bliss.
Howard Chin, PE
Member, Jamaica Institution of Engineers
hmc14 @cwjamaica.com
Tell us the true story, NWC!
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