On Thursday, February 13, 2020, after a disruption in electrical power, the BWA suffered pumping equipment failure at Hampton.
Investigations revealed that two (2) of the three (3) 2.0 MGD submersible well pumps that were in operation were not working. The crews were able to replace one pump and repair a second on Thursday night.
Additional adjustments were made to the pumping arrangements for the systems fed from Hampton, which should have recovered despite the short fall in production.
However, the delay in restoration of one of the systems was also impacted by the occurrence of a burst on a 10-inch main on Friday, February 14, in the Pilgrim Road area, which was repaired the same Friday night.
In addition to the work at the Hampton Pumping Station BWA workers carried out investigations in the distribution networks to try to establish whether the delay in full restoration of supply was possibly being impacted by other burst mains.
It has now been established on Monday, February 17 that there is a 16-inch burst main which would have contributed to the delay in restoration of the water supply.
Repair of this large diameter main has its challenges because:
- the area is a water logged canefield in a basin,
- two (2) large diameter mains are in close proximity, so determining the one affected is difficult,
- & a berm has to be created around the burst site and the area has to be dewatered before repairs can commence.
At this stage of the investigations, the combination of the two (2) large diameter burst mains appears to be the possible cause of the delay in full restoration of the systems supplied from Hampton.
The Authority will only be able to conclusively advise of this on completion of the repairs and monitoring of the response of the Hampton systems.