Portions Of St. Thomas Without Potable Water Service Due To New Leaks On Water Mains On Moravian Highway And Savan, WAPA Says

ST. THOMAS — The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority on Monday announced that areas of St. Thomas which experienced potable water service interruptions on Sunday, will again experience a lack of service on Monday resulting from new leaks that erupted in the previously-affected water mains during the overnight hours.

After repairs were completed around 1 a.m. Monday on a leaking 10” water main along Moravian Highway and while crews were recharging the system prior to restoring service, a new leak was detected on the deteriorated water main, according to WAPA.  As a result, service will again be affected to all customers west of VITEMA headquarters including the Contant Knolls housing community as crews begin a new round of emergency repairs. Sunday’s repair work also affected traffic flow as one lane of east-bound traffic on Moravian Highway was closed to facilitate the repair work, that traffic lane will also be affected by today’s work.

In addition, hotels on the airport road, the King airport terminal, Gladys Abraham Elementary School and Kirwan Terrace housing community will also experience water service interruptions while the repairs are carried out. Where possible, WAPA has urged affected customers to switch from the potable water system to cistern water to maintain water supply.

Crews will also be return to Savan on Monday morning to initiate repairs to a leaking water main. And similar to the leaking main of Sunday, the emergency repairs will affect service provided by the Savan pump station and portions of Savan, Upper Solberg and Annas Fancy will be without potable water service until the repair work is completed.

“At both locations, the age of the water mains has left the affected pipelines in a state of deterioration. As crews complete repairs and attempt to restore service, additional leaks are being detected elsewhere on the same line,” said WAPA Chief Executive Officer, Julio A. Rhymer, Sr. Apologizing for the inconvenience caused by the water service interruptions, Mr. Rhymer said all efforts will be made to expedite the repairs so service can be restored to the affected areas as quickly as possible.