With lingering doubts about the quality of tap water post-Hurricane Melissa, the National Water Commission (NWC) has insisted that supplies restored after the Category 5 storm meet required quality standards and are safe for consumption.

The NWC gave the assurance during a meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on Wednesday after committee members pressed the agency on whether water being distributed after the October 28, 2025 hurricane complies with national health standards and whether lingering public scepticism is justified.

Member of Parliament (MP) for St Catherine South Eastern Dr Alfred Dawes sought confirmation that customers receiving restored service were not being exposed to substandard water as he pointed out that quality concerns existed even before the storm.

In response, acting vice-president of operations at the NWC Herman Fagan said entity has a firm stance on safety and would not allow any questionable supply to reach customers.

“One of the things I can highlight to you, the issue of quality is one that we are not going to compromise on. Yes, there were reports before [Melissa] that we had some areas which we had some issues. To date, post-Hurricane Melissa, our regulators have not come back to us to say that there is any area that they have, because they do parallel testing. We do testing every day, and they…have not come back to us and said they had any adverse findings,” Fagan told the committee.

He pointed to an example in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, where a water system has remained offline despite supply challenges because internal quality checks were not satisfied.

“We have a well that supplies Santa Cruz [and] power has been restored to the facility; however, we have to be doing extensive trucking. The reason why we have not put back that system into operation is because our quality department, despite what my operations colleagues say, they think the water is good, the quality looks good, but the quality department says to us, ‘listen, we’re not going to put that into operation’,” Fagan explained.

He said the NWC’s internal policy is clear and leaves little room for compromise.

Beyond internal testing, the NWC said it is also subject to external oversight, including independent checks by regulators such as the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), which recently requested more detailed quality data.

Fagan told the committee the agency has no issue with the additional scrutiny and welcomes independent verification.

he also sought to reinforce confidence in Jamaica’s tap water by pointing to the trust placed in it by major institutional users.

“It’s not by coincidence that cruise ships passing through this part of the hemisphere come to Montego Bay to purchase water from us. It’s not by coincidence… and I can’t recall in the recent past… we got any complaints about quality,” said Fagan as he acknowledged that improving communication with the public remains a priority.

“I think we can and should do more certainly in terms of communicating to the populace the quality of water that we supply. That is something that we definitely can look at enhancing,” Fagan said.

He was responding to St Mary Central MP Omar Newell who noted that bottled water consumption typically rises after hurricanes, reflecting widespread distrust of piped supply, and asked whether the NWC was doing enough to encourage Jamaicans to return to drinking from the tap.

In the meantime NWC’s Corporate Public Relations Manager Delano Williams told the committee that while the entity remains confident in its product public perception can be influenced by factors beyond its control.

“Sometimes it’s really…a combination of humility and caution in that, while we do always stand by the quality of the water… We also are mindful that once the water leaves and is on the way to customers, there are other environmental factors, like a pipe can be broken, allowing customers to sometimes have issues at their premises,” Williams explained.

He added that despite those risks, the NWC maintains that its treated supply is safe for domestic use.

“But definitely we always promote and will continue to promote that our water, once it is in the tap, is ready for drinking, ready for all domestic use, and is safe and quite well healthy for our customers,” said Williams.