National Assembly-Minister Jumeau appeals for water conservation |25 May 2005

He made this appeal when answering questions regarding the water situation in the country in the National Assembly Tuesday May 24.

Minister Jumeau was speaking as the minister responsible for water and sewerage which fall under the Public Utilities Corporation (PUC).

He said while the government is taking all the necessary steps to alleviate water problems and improve supply of treated water to meet increasing demand, each and every Seychellois should make it their responsibility to preserve and use water in a sustainable manner.

Minister Jumeau said while saving water, people will not only be saving money, but also allow others to have access to adequate supply.

The government he said is encouraging families to install water tanks and rain harvesting facilities at homes, and will make it mandatory for all large hotels to use recycled water for toilet and other non-consumptive use.

If necessary he said the government can also give concessions on water harvesting and storage devices to attract greater public involvement. He said plans are being made in collaboration with Planning Authority to ensure that all houses constructed in the future have proper water storage facilities and that rain harvesting is done on properties occupying 200 square metres of land or more.

He said this will form part of new regulations to be made to ensure that less treated water is used during rainy season.

Besides water conservation, PUC has initiated an Accelerated Pipeline Replacement Project to improve its distribution network and reduce the unaccounted-for-water that is lost in the system, and to replace some 1,500 defective metres that are over seven years old with new ones. The installation of new meters will cost the government some R800,000.

In the next five years, PUC is expected to change some 29 kilometres of pipes on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue at a cost of R23 million. 40 percent of the investment will be in foreign exchange.

Minister Jumeau said as a result of the current state of the network, 48 percent of water produced on Mahe alone is unaccounted for. With the completion of the pipe project, they are expected to bring back into the distribution system an additional 7,600 kilo-litres of water per day.

New pipes will also help prevent the repetition of the recent situation where as a result of corrosion, consumers were getting water of a reddish colour from their taps. The problem, Minister Jumeau said, has now been resolved.

In addition to improving the distribution system, the minister said various possibilities that can be undertaken in the future to produce more water such as the construction of a dam at Grand Anse, the expansion of the La Gogue reservoir, storage ponds on the reclaimed land, pumping of water from Mare Aux Cochons to Le Niol, among others.