BWSL is having a moment. The water coming from its Double Run plant to Belize City is discolored, it looks like a sickly yellow. But, the company says the water remains safe to drink, and to bathe and wash with, but it may discolour your clothes.
Now, the odd part is that even if you live in Belize city - you may not have seen discolored water coming out of your pipes. The company says it has gotten about 200 complaints from various parts of the city. Company executives held a press conference today to say that if your water is yellow, just let it run for a minute, and it's go away:
Alvan Haynes, C.E.O., B.W.S.
"The first thing is really to reassure customer and consumers, everybody the slight discoloration of the water, and sometimes, it is worse than slight; based on what we have seen is that the water is not unsafe. However, based on our test, it is due to increased levels of iron in the water which basically comes through from the untreated water. We treat it through the plant but it does not remove the iron levels because the plant at Double Run was designed for the type of water that was tested at the time the plant was being constructed twenty-odd years ago. What we have seen is that we are getting higher levels of iron in the water than before. The problem with the iron in the water is that it reacts with the chlorine and causes the discoloration. So, as the water sits in the system, it comes from the plant clear and as it sits in the pipes it then builds up the discoloration. So, the simple solution is to run the water a little bit so that clears out and then it is perfectly good. The main problem with the discoloration is that it would stain white clothes in the laundry. But other than that, it is safe to bathe, safe to use to cook, safe to give the dogs to drink or people to drink, etc. It is just that it has the colour."
"The only way increased iron levels get within the water is because it's in the source and it's not what one of the things that the plant was design to remove. We will now actually put an additional component that will attract and coagulate and remove the iron components. We had to do that with the San Ignacio system 3-4 years ago and the situation was far worse in San Ignacio. They were really getting red water and for an extended time, because we had to do major research to find the right treatment to deal with the issue, so we are fortunate now in a way that we already know, we already have the chemicals required. It's simply to install an additional component at the plant which at the worse would take 3-4 days."
The water discoloration issue started at mid month with the rains.
The operations manager also discussed why you may have discolored water running into your house, while your neighbor hasn't experienced the same:
Reporter
"Is there any interpretation of the data in so far as the consumer feedback that makes you understand how this discolored water is being distributed? What's taking it go to one house on one street and not onto a next house on another street?"
Dave Pascasio, Operations Manager
"That's a part of mystery. when we look at the map and see how its spread out, I have not experience it just like you, other co-workers that live by me have experience it, some have not. So that's a part of the mystery why it goes to one point as oppose to not going to the next point."
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