Dear Editor,

Having read your April 6 editorial, “Here’s why rainwater harvesting makes sense”, I feel I should make some comments. About 30 years ago the subdivision of lands showed an increase. The Town Planning Department discussed the matter of water supply for these new available lands, some of which were in areas where there were no water supply programmes and residents could not afford to set up same.

It was suggested to the parish councils that one of the conditions of approval in such areas should be the provision of tanks which would be supplied by water from the roofs of houses. This condition was then added to the existing conditions of approval. This was not expected to take care of all the needs of a household, but would lessen the need for providing an unlimited amount of water to these sub-divisions.

I received my primary training from the Public Works Department and my first experience was the construction of the Percy Junor Hospital in Spaulding – an area which at that time did not have a water supply system. However, to provide water to the hospital a 100,000-gallon tank with a catchment of approximately one acre was constructed on a nearby elevated site, and I believe this has served the hospital for a long time.

The government subsequently built many of the 100,000-gallon steel-reinforced concrete tanks with large catchments in areas where water was not accessible, and today these tanks are providing water to the residents in those areas. In some cases where it was possible to drill wells, these tanks are used as storage.

I recall in St Ann a subdivision at Chippenham Park where rainwater tanks were built and these structures can be seen in many of the holdings in this area. Rainwater tanks will not entirely alleviate the shortage of water at times, but if carefully used could curtail the funds spent by the government to truck water to these areas.

Stanley Martin

Retired Superintendent St Ann Parish Council

leystan43@yahoo.com