Water...

Hi,

Donno bout the political connotations, but I was seeing the MBC bulletin the night before, they mentioned that the water authority have reduced water supply to only 12 hours a day to all the cities. Apparently there is a 6% increase in demand and 20% shortage in water reservoirs and than 60% rain this year.!! Guess we have to wait for the rains to come in well!!

Musheer

We're not even getting 12 minutes at the moment!! Having a shower in bottled water is a new experience though... Shouldn't they cut off the golf courses and the hotels first?

Loads here in Pointe aux Piments--fingers crossed we have never had a shortage or a cut in 12 years!!

JWMapou wrote:

Anyone else got no water - or is it just us poor souls in Rose Hill? The fact that Rose Hill is the stronghold of the MMM is of course unrelated...

as far as your comment on the Golf courses and hotels, you are kidding, right
I would have thought that you will know  the modus operandi of the decision makers by now-île Divine with 2M tourists in the future and water being hauled in to fill those nifty individual pools. Some see only $$$$ when the rest is going to the dogs ( no pun intended)

I read this morning Anwar Hussein Subratty has resigned as Chairman of the CWA! Good news... he'd only been told for the last five years he needed a new reservoir... I'm not demanding 24/7 supply - just more than a trickle in the morning and evening would be nice - this is Rose Hill, by Mauritian standards a big city!! I know water is in short supply but we should get an equal amount. Triolet and the surrounding area get loads of water and good pressure too. I wonder why?

Still having problems! The CWA hotline tells us the tanker will be on Inkerman Street today but I'm having trouble believing them - a week of phonecalls and promises and still nothing, not even a trickle, not even after the 5pm 'switch on' ... They are outdoing themselves on this one!

This seems pretty ridiculous even with the water shortages and low reservoir levels taken in to consideration. 

I know people in Pereybere who complain about water problems all the time as well.  I feel lucky to not have personally experienced this problem......so far....

Good luck!!!

Just seems to be rotten luck! Hit and miss... when the CWA are losing 50% of their water through poorly maintained pipes though, it makes you wonder...! Thanks for your concerns, but we plough on. It still hasn't dampened (excuse the pun) my love for this island...

Am mauritian an live Roches brunes R.hill i have never experienced water problem.May be you have some bad connection or broken pipes near your house.I would recommend you to buy a pump and water tank so that to be relief.

JWMapou wrote:

Just seems to be rotten luck! Hit and miss... when the CWA are losing 50% of their water through poorly maintained pipes though, it makes you wonder...! Thanks for your concerns, but we plough on. It still hasn't dampened (excuse the pun) my love for this island...

You must be living on the wrong side of Rose-Hill (just kidding). Have you checked with some neighbours and see if you can group together  and make a complaint to the local MP and the Municipal representative also.

I used to live across from a Minister when I was a child and it had its pros and cons. Blackout and water rationing during droughts were kept to the minimum BUT when some union workers and their members decided to protest, my mum used to stand guard by the gate of our house to make sure that no rocks were thrown at our windows and enclosed veranda, When the mob came, the policemen were nowhere to be seen

When will you people in Rose Hill learn how to vote!

If it helps, there are problems in areas which returned three Alliance De L'Avenir candidates.  I was chatting to a relative in the south only the day who was complaining about both the domestic supply and that to agricultural land. I remember problems when I was visiting Mauritius twenty years ago, all blamed on leaking pipes back then and still today.  To make it worse, Mare aux Vacoas looked a little "dry" when I drove past the other day.

As others have said, a water tank and a pump will solve your problems, and a chat with Ton Polo or your local friendly socio-cultural group wouldn't do any harm, though you'll owe the latter your soul.

Thanks for all of your advice people! Its clear its not just Rose Hill that has a serious problem - colleagues are telling me today about Pamplemousses, Pereybere, Mon Choisy... calls to fix leaking pipes and to build another reservoir have fallen on deaf ears over the past few years and now I suppose we're paying for it. In the meantime, we just wait... at least my wife has a big family so we have places to go that have water...

Good old Radio One - they contacted my wife and they want to run a story...! We need to get this public - why is the press so quiet? Ok, this is the driest year in Mauritian history - even more reason to get the infrastructure sorted out as future years are going to be just as bad...

JWMapou wrote:

Good old Radio One - they contacted my wife and they want to run a story...! We need to get this public - why is the press so quiet? Ok, this is the driest year in Mauritian history - even more reason to get the infrastructure sorted out as future years are going to be just as bad...

So far so good - at least someone is willing to broadcast your story.

Yes, good news! Ok, lets be realistic - we can't do much about the weather but for years consultants have been saying collect more rainwater from the hills, fix your creaking pipes, build another reservoir... My anger is borne out of my passion for this country and wish to see it go forward. As it stands, being the new Singapore is a long way off. 2 million tourists with no water?

JWMapou wrote:

As it stands, being the new Singapore is a long way off. 2 million tourists with no water?

Some like to dream. It is not going to happen. Like they say so well in Kreol- "grand kosé mais poche touzours vide"
As far as the tourists in hotels, they will be looked after - the govt  will bend over backwards ( remember how all went so smoothly for the episode of The Amazing Race in 2006 if you've seen it)  to ensure that FX comes on the island BUT the poor souls who rent bungalows or vacation rentals from the locals will be in for a big shock.
Anyway Good Luck and invest in a water tank and a pump. You won't regret it because it may get worse  over the coming yrs.

Hey all,

Very interesting read. Also water in Flic en Flac, Morcellement Anna, has been cut off, so relying on whatever's left in the tank. I actually just made a 3-minute film connecting water issues and climate change in Mauritius. It doesn't get at all the issues raised (I only had 3 minutes), but it does hope to get across that it's not simply enough to get a lot of rainfall... it also has to be managed correctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIi7HJdnU8

Matt

http://lexpress.mu/story/18149-penurie- … rvoir.html

Some improvements seem to potentially be on the way sometime soon-ish.  Hopefully in time for the Plaines Wilhems sewer system so that it has some value.

I'm going to post something that'll anger a lot of people here!

The main pipe on the road where I lived literally burst yesterday (am talking about the really big one, not the smaller ones that are in your yard!) and I called CWA hotline.

For 3 hours I called (and am sure all those that didn't have water did) to get them to come and repair, and they sang the same song over and over. They never did.

I had to pull in a favour from a friend who works there to get someone from CWA to come and repair the darn pipe, after 4 hours!!!!!Imagine the amount of water wasted...

The funny thing is that I had water but those houses farther down the road didn't. And one of the neighbours had the nerve to come up and have a go at those who had water but had tried everything to get them to come repair, telling them that it was their fault and that they had to repair the pipe as she didn't want to dirty her dress!Ah well...

So much for drought and neighbours!

MGray wrote:

I actually just made a 3-minute film connecting water issues and climate change in Mauritius... it also has to be managed correctly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQIi7HJdnU8

Excellent video and interesting to hear the thoughts of the legendary, Sok Appadu.

Interesting reading - and well, a colleague was able to help me out Friday night by filling up our tank and on Saturday, lo and behold, Ramgoolam's spokesperson went on the radio saying he will be giving Rose Hill water - by 4pm we had more than we've ever had - we managed to do 5 lots of washing... Thank you Navin!

The budget is a step in the right direction - money for new pipes etc. This island is definitely going places - as long as it avoids the mistakes of my homeland all should be ok... lets hope, because this place is paradise...