Authorities are studying the option of using brackish water for consumption as the country’s biggest reservoir, Mare aux Vacoas, is 43.6 per cent full compared to 92.6 per cent for the same period last year.
This was declared by Central Water Authority (CWA) acting chairman Megduth Chumroo.
“A team is actually carrying out studies at Flic en Flac and Trou d’Eau Douce as the CWA has found brackish water in these two areas. If the conclusions are positive, there is a high probability that we may use brackish water for consumption,” he stated.
A high level meeting was held at the deputy prime minister’s office with the different stakeholders, namely the CWA, the Water Resources Unit and Meteorological Station to discuss the current situation. Another meeting will be organised by the end of the week.
“The lack of cyclones that would have brought downpours last year, has the island in the red zone due to persisting droughts. This situation is not normal and we are studying the option of using brackish water,” said the CWA chief.
Chumroo added, “As opposed to sea water, brackish water is consumable and there are people who use it.”
Even though brackish water can be obtained at Bras d’Eau, the authorities are only planning to use the water that is available behind Flic en Flac police station and Trou d’Eau Douce, in case this situation persists. The government is also planning to dig up to 200 metres into watertables in a bid to obtain a total volume of 3,000m3 of water per day.
He warned the population against water wastage, by saying, “We may find ourselves in the same chaotic situation as in 2010.”
Reservoirs on the island collect around 500,000m3 of water everyday while the daily consumption is 350,000m3.