Water Works?

[Bart -my real name-]

Something I’ve always been curious about…….How does the water work in St. Barts? I’m talking about the drinking/cooking/showering/etc water. I know there’s a desalination plant, but what is that water used for?

Is there such a thing as “city water”? I know there are no wells on the island and I know most houses have cisterns.

Do all the houses/villas/residents get their water from their own cistern or are there underground water lines supplying the villas? Or is it a combination of both?

 

[JimD]

It's a combination of both.

The "city" water is the desalinated water that is pumped round the island.

There are wells, however the water is brackish, and in any case, given the number of septic tanks, not advisable in any case.

 

[JEK]

Houses can switch from city water to cistern as the situation demands, thus the generally accepted principle of not drinking water from the tap.

 

[Bart -my real name-]

So for a typical day in a the life of a typical house, what type of water is coming out of the tap?

And do houses way up in the hills still get "city" water? They must have quite a pump.

 

[JEK]

I think it depends on how full the cistern is and how expensive the city water is. Even in the heights of Vitet the city water flows (slowly). Cisterns are also filled by (small) tanker trucks too.

 

[Bart -my real name-]

Thanks!

Most of Gustavia must just be on city water, right? I assume that's why a bunch of places were closed when the water plant went down?

 

[KevinS]

Probably.

Cistern water is "free", except for the maintenance (if any) done on the individual cistern system. City water is expensive. Most expensive of all is water delivered by truck. Tim can probably give some insight into the various costs.

 

[tim]

I expect some places in Gustavia have cisterns as well. It's only been in the last several decades that reliable "city water" from the desalination plant became available. There are still homes on the island that haven't connected to the "city water" and rely solely on their cisterns. Most new homes have both.

There have been times when the island is really busy that the "city water" system can't keep up with demand. That's when residents, especially those of us in the higher elevations, have to rely totally on our cisterns. In the worst of those scenarios, one might have to buy fresh water by the truckload that is taken from the system at lower elevations where there is still pressure, thus exacerbating the problem. The condo project across the street from me had to pump their swimming pool into the communal cistern once in order to have flushability, a crisis scenario.

"City water" costs about 8 euros/cubic meter when it comes in the pipes, several times more than that when it's delivered by truck.

JEK is correct in that a renter can never be sure whether the water coming out of the villa's faucets is "city water" or cistern water. If I were in that situation, I would always assume it's cistern water and take appropriate measures. I don't intentionally drink my cistern water, but I know it happens incidentally, so far without sickness of which I'm aware.

 

[Purplejeep]

As Tim stated, city water often cannot keep up with demand when the island is busy, and I have found it to be unreliable at times (even when the island is not busy). When our cistern is low we fill it (or half fill it, or take what we think we need) with city water and continue to use the cistern system. This also prevents huge water bills if a pipe breaks, or someone leaves water running somewhere (both of which have happened to us). As a general rule we do not drink cistern water, but I do brush my teeth with it with no adverse effects.

 

[ChasBidd]

Re: water

Back in the day..... During a sever drout on the island.... Some enterprising soul came to our (empty) house and pumped the cistern dry. 30,000 some odd gallons.

Big suprise when Mom and Dad returned to the isle.

since then I have made it impossible to steal water from the overflow conduits.

I use the cistern water for showering, brushing teeth, shaving etc. I do it for cooking, providing I boil it. I use bottled water for ice, general drinking and taking to the beach.

I also toss a bottle of Clorox into the cistern annually. Actually I pour the contents of the bottle of Clorox into the cistern. The bottle it'self would do no good.

 

[elgreaux]

we do exactly as Mr Biddle does... I even make Evian ice cubes!

 

[JEK]

Re: water

I grew up in rural Ohio and we had a cistern for bathing/dish washing and a well for drinking. Three taps at the sink.
Along with Clorox my father would throw a bottle of this into the cistern once a year.

 

[andynap]

I even make Evian ice cubes!

Amen.

 

[fcb]

Question, I have stayed at several villas with ice makers in the freezer and I have used the ice but with reservations. So far I have had no problem. I know that most newer refrigerators have a filter for the ice maker but would this do for water coming from the cistern? Most often the ice had a certain amount of alcohol on top of it and perhaps that made a difference.

 

[KevinS]

FCB,

In the same situation I put my trust in the preventative power of alcohol. I haven't had a problem yet, but that doesn't mean that I won't.

 

[MIke R]

the ice filter on a refrigerator is a charcoal taste filter on 99% of them which does nothing at all to remove nasty critters.....some of your newer higher end refrigerators have a built in PUR system, but they are few and far between and it is highly unlikely anything like that would have found its way down there yet..

so dont count on that as your line of defense.....

we make our ice with bottled water..... its an easy thing to do and it eliminates the possibility....why take a chance with precious vacation time??..seems silly to me when the solutions are so easy

 

[tim]

If one has critter-phobia, ice maker ice should be considered risky in St. Barth villas no matter how much alcohol is added to the mixture. Find the old-fashioned ice trays, and add your favorite brand of bottled water to insure your libations are critter free.

 

[KevinS]

So, Where does the bagged ice at the grocery stores come from?

 

[elgreaux]

So, Where does the bagged ice at the grocery stores come from?

good question. ditto for the ice in bars and restaurants...

 

[fcb]

Now I know this is off topic but on my last trip in July I boiled tap water for iced tea and paid a price for it. The housekeeper told after the fact that I should never use tap water even if boiled. Lessen learned, don't bother with iced tea.