Residents of Wickie Wackie in St Andrew are fuming.

Despite the auburn colour of water flowing from their pipes for years, and instances of frequent lock-offs, they say they are still expected to pay National Water Commission (NWC) for the contaminated substance. And the fact that the problem has not been resolved has only made matters worse.

According to Natshon Edwards, the problem started almost two years ago after work commenced on the construction of the Southern Coastal Highway connecting St Andrew and St Thomas.

He shared an e-mail chain between himself and the NWC’s Customer Care Unit dating back to July 7 last year in which he complained about the quality of the water.

However, Edwards told the Jamaica Observer that after providing his premises number he received no response from the State agency.

In a follow-up e-mail on July 21 he requested an update. He was told that the matter had been escalated. However, he said it took about two months before an NWC representative came to visit.

“They told us it is not fit for consumption because there is no chlorine in it, so we shouldn’t consume it at any time at all. They said it’s not good. What they started to do is to come and bleed the hydrant here, so they would come, probably like every three weeks, and run out the water,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“We would get a little ease for a couple of hours, and then it’s back to normal,” he added.

Edwards said he called the NWC again, and that resulted in another visit from NWC representatives, but no action came from that.

“It’s a whole heap of back and forth. I had to keep following up because I [was] not hearing anything from them,” Edwards said, visibly annoyed.

He said that he had to purchase a tank and have it filled twice each month in order to have clean water. He also had to minimise his usage to let his water supply last longer. This, Edwards said, costs him about $20,000 every month, on top of the bill that he has to pay the NWC.

Edwards said that while his NWC bill is about $1,500 per month, because he rarely uses the contaminated water, the act of paying for water that he often cannot use is unfair.

“It costs, and then you’re paying for a service that you can’t use, because you can’t wash with it, especially white clothes… If you want to wash you probably have to wash every three weeks, because you have to wait until the water clears up a little bit,” he said, noting that even then, only dark-coloured clothes can be washed.

“We are not going to not pay it, because we know that at the end of the day if we don’t pay it we’re going to get a call to say that they are going to cut off the water, so we are just stuck in a very uncomfortable situation,” he lamented.

“It’s unbearable and as I’ve said before, we never had this issue until the highway. I’ve been here probably like 20 years,” added Edwards.

However, other residents said water problems have been an ongoing issue for decades. It has only got worse.

“It used to happen when I was over Bay View. When I used to live on that side it was the same problem, but it is worse now… I lived there since I was about 14 years old, and the water has been like that. Since I live here [Wickie Wackie] about six years now, the water has been red,“ said Evelyn Graham, who told the Sunday Observer that she is now well past 40 years old.

“When you bathe with it, it scratches your skin, but we have no choice. We have to sometimes throw bleach in the water, and then if you don’t pay the bill they come cut it off. Almost every morning the water is red. Sometimes it is more than some, but other times it red, red, red. You have to run the pipe for hours before the water gets clear so you can wash. Sometimes the red water [will] catch your clothes, and it stains,” she said, shaking her head with a frown.

Graham added that in some instances she waits about four hours for her water to change from red to a slight yellow tint, but it’s a huge inconvenience that disrupts her plans for the day.

However, she, too, has decided to still pay for the contaminated water because she feels there is no other choice.

She pointed to a drum at the side of her house in which she often stores the contaminated water. When the sediments settle at the bottom, after a few days, she uses the surface water to wash and clean. However, she purchases two gallons of drinking water each month from a water store.

“You have to do what you can to survive,” said the frustrated woman, who pleaded for improved water quality.

Another resident, Imani Tafari-Ama, shared that she had to acquire a filtration system for her house, but even then the water does not always run clean.

“I have a double filtering system, and when the water commission people came they said it’s not my fault and there needs to be some re-piping because the pipes seem to be compromised. So the sediments have entered into the system, and so they cannot just willy-nilly say they’re gonna give us clean water because it is a process of redoing the pipes,” Tafari-Ama told the Sunday Observer.

“When you look at the level of discolouration, it’s amber,” she said, disconnecting her filter to show the reddish-brown sediments in the water filtration system.

“Initially, I had one filter, and the plumber said, ‘No sah, you need it to double,’ so him put in the double one because him say when it passes through this one and passes through the other, then it goes clean in the system,” she shared.

Tafari-Ama said that she has to clean the filter at least twice a month and replace the system every three to four months. That costs her $10,000 each time.

One resident, who gave her name as Dahlia and said she has lived in the area for more than 30 years speculated that the sediment in the water is due to the water pipes being made of clay.

She said that, over the years, some of the pipes have been changed, however, that is not substantial enough to solve the issue.

“Originally, like two decades ago, the entire scheme used to be on a flat rate because of the water quality. Over time they change that, and everybody regularise. They used to have more frequent testing then, but you not having that now,” said Dahlia.

She added that the pipes burst frequently and cause water lock-offs.

“Whenever they mend a section it sends pressure to another section, and that section bursts. Once that pressure starts coming again that sedimentation comes, so if you’re washing you can’t just be running cycles. You have to constantly be monitoring the water,” she said, and demanded a permanent solution.

“It is something that needs a structured approach, a structured remedial approach, and I think if they put in the necessary thing from the pumping source it should be able to do additional filtering,” she reasoned.

“It may be an expensive venture to try and re-pipe the area, but at least if you do some flushing and setting up of another catchment area or another filtering area, or get a programme where you can help householders put in some level of filtering that will assist, but we need some programme.

“You can’t be running pipes and have this inconvenience. When a load goes red, whenever time water comes back you have to go and get industrial chemicals to clean the tub and everything. It’s expensive,” she said.

Imani Tafari-Ama shows her water filter which has turned a reddish-brown due a build up of sediments in the domestic supply in Wickie Wackie. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Wickie Wackie resident Evelyn Graham telling the Sunday Observer of her experience with the contaminated water from her domestic supply on Saturday. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)

Contaminated water flows from this water filtration system installed by Wickie Wackie resident Imani Tafari-Ama. (Photo: Naphtali Junior)