Rural Communities in St. James get Potable Water

About 3,000 residents in several communities in rural St. James now have access to  potable water.

This is due to the upgrading of the Prospect Spring intake  in Lottery, at a cost of approximately $5 million. It was  funded through the Rural Water Upgrading Programme, under the Ministry of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change

Communities to benefit from the rehabilitated facility include Lottery, Latium, Guilsbro and Amity Hall. The  project commenced in  October 2011 and was completed in early December 2012.    

According to Project Engineer with the Rural Water Upgrading Programme, Donald Gayle, the Prospect Spring facility was once a vibrant water source, but had been severely affected by drought conditions.    

“The problem with that system was that in the drought period, no water would actually go into the system.  We had to construct a new intake that will capture  water (from springs) during the low time and carry it by way of a new two-inch transmission main down to  the existing distribution pipe,”  he added.

Mr. Gayle explained that these spring sources are commonplace throughout the rural  areas.  “ We just put a concrete entombment around them to harness the water and pipe it as far as we can.  It’s a very simple system,” Mr. Gayle said.

The Prospect Spring facility is one of many systems managed by the St. James Parish Council.