Water shortages have always plagued Trinidad and Tobago. Despite repeated assurances by multiple governments of “water for all”, significant portions of the population are still without a daily pipeborne supply of water — in 2002 only 50% of the population received a 24-hour water supply according to WASA, the state-owned Water Management company.

Quoting supply and demand figures issued by WASA, the deficit is not overwhelming — in 2002 the Authority produced 347 million cubic metres of potable water while demand was 368 million cubic metres.

The cruel irony of the situation is only revealed upon closer analysis of the breakdown of the demand. Of those 368 million cumecs, 45% are categorised as UFW. Unaccounted For Water. In layman's terms, this means leaks. 45% of the water produced is wasted due to leaky, antiquated pipelines. And pure laziness and inefficiency on the part of WASA.

As a result, most homes are equipped with water storage tanks, water pumps, and in more rural areas, cisterns and barrels. Or regular visits to the neighbourhood standpipe. In the meantime WASA continues to “operate”, incurring enormous debts in the process. At last count, the figure was over US$500 million in debt.

Drip, drip...