A hotline has been set up for residents to report all water faults to the Water and Sewerage Department.

Persons are asked to call 468-6000 to report all water leaks, broken pipes and interruption to water supply.

Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Communications and Works, Mr. Anthony McMaster, stated that the ministry has been receiving numerous complaints from the public about water leaks and with the implementation of the hotline, reports will be tracked to determine the effectiveness of the current resources.

Mr. McMaster said, “It is important that callers are able to identify the particular area that will help … when sending out technical teams. Also callers should provide their names and contact number, so that in the event that we do not have sufficient information to find the leak we can make contact with someone to follow up on where the leak might be.”

Mr. McMaster added that the unit now has additional teams to ensure coverage is given to larger areas simultaneously as it is the ministry’s intention to dispatch a technical team immediately after reports are recorded.

He further added, “What we have done is, deployed additional teams, added more resources, so that we can split Tortola into three geographical locations: east, west, and central. Allowing us to have teams in those areas at all times focusing on leaks within those areas.”

The fault reporting hotline is expected to be a 24/7 hotline and in the event a phone operator is not available, persons are asked to leave detailed messages on the faults.

An extensive leak detection and repair exercise is being carried out by the special project team at the Ministry of Communications and Works and has been successful in addressing six major leaks in the Territory. The Ministry has reported that resolution of these leaks resulted in a significant savings in operational expenses and increased pressure, which has allowed water to reach to higher elevated areas. This exercise is still on-going and technicians at the Water and Sewerage Department are being trained during these exercises with the special project team.

In October, the Water and Sewerage Department conducted internal training for its technicians through the Caribbean Water & Sewerage Association Inc. The training will continue this year to have all technicians 100 percent certified.

The Ministry of Communications and Works thanks the public for their assistance as they continue to enhance the water distribution network.