As you heard the Principal Public Health Inspector say, if the Belize River was polluted the way that the New River in Orange Walk currently is, thousands of Belizeans wouldn’t have any access to drinking water from BWS. So, we wondered about safe drinking water for the Orange Walk District.

We asked the Operations Manager for Belize Water Services about that, and he said that it is very fortunate that Orange Walk consumers don’t get water from the New River. Here’s the conversation on that topic:

Reporter
"Moving on to the current situation happening to the New River in the Orange Walk District, is that particular pollution threat - can it have an immediate impact on the source of water that BWS has access to?"

Dave Pascasio - Operations Manager, BWS
"Well, fortunately for us in Orange Walk, our source is well water, which is not supplied by the New River. So, that is very fortunate for us, and our consumers in Orange Walk."

Reporter
"Is the system in the Orange Walk District fully insulated from that level of pollution?"

Dave Pascasio
"Yes, [we’re] solely dependent on wells."