St. Kitts Government Continues Water Rationing

The St. Kitts government has announced yesterday that they will continue with their water rationing. According to the government, this season has had a significant reduction in rainfall which has forced their hand.

The St. Kitts Ministry of Public Infrastructure announced interruptions of water service commencing at 9pm each day and will resume at 5.30am the following morning. The water will not be turned off during weekends.

Depending on your location, you may lose water at different times throughout the night due to the majority of the water system in St. Kitts being gravity based.

The simplest way to help is to reduce your usage in water, here are some tips how:

  • Fill the wash basin with water instead of letting the tap continuously run
  • Use a dishwasher rather (a full dishwasher will actually use less water than washing dishes by hand with a running tap)
  • Take shorter showers
  • Report or fix leaky taps
  • Toilets can be major water waster. A running or leaky toilet can waste about 200 gallons of water per day, that’s 6000 gallons per month
  • Avoid using sprinklers during the day but rather use them early in the morning or in the evening
  • Wash your vehicle with a bucket of water rather than a running hose

If any of our tenants have a leaky or running toilet or leaky faucet, please create a ticket in the portal and we’ll fix the issue as soon as possible.

The government of St. Kitts has apps and a relatively large social media presence to notify the public of issues, here are some important links:

There are also apps for ios and android for monitoring services like electricity and even an app for the portal.

Water is life, especially on a small island like ours. We’re all responsible for the conservation of this precious commodity.

Dry Spell Affecting Water Levels

Water rationing in St. Kitts and Nevis

St Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The current dry spell across St. Kitts and Nevis is reportedly having an impact on the water supply across the two islands.

Reports have surfaced that citizens and residents in some areas across St. Kitts have been receiving low water pressure or have seen rationing in some instances.

WINN FM reached out to the Water Manager at the Water Department for a comment on the reports but was however unsuccessful up to news.

WINN FM also reached out to the Water Manager on Nevis for a comment but was also unsuccessful.

It was at one of the National Emergency Operations Center media briefs in April that concerns were first expressed over the low levels of rainfall.

Water Engineer Charles Parris at the time gave an update on the levels in St. Kitts and Nevis during the lockdown period when water usage was elevated due to citizens being at home. He indicated that due to the lack of rainfall the department had voluntarily instituted rationing in Saddlers, Dieppe Bay, and Lodge.

All Confirmed Cases in St. Kitts & Nevis are Recovered

Basseterre, St. Kitts (May 18, 2020) – St. Kitts & Nevis is pleased to announce that, as of today, all 15 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the Federation have successfully recovered from the virus with 0 deaths. St. Kitts & Nevis was the last country in the Americas to confirm a case of the virus and among the first to report all cases having recovered with no deaths.

“An important milestone was reached today with the recovery of all 15 persons testing positive for COVID-19. This demonstrates the unprecedented achievements by St. Kitts & Nevis and the Caribbean region in containing and controlling the spread of the virus,” said Minister of Tourism the Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant. “I am gratified that our Federation’s ‘all society approach’ starting with early and aggressive actions, the excellent work of our medical community and the cooperation of all persons in the Federation have brought us to this place. However, at this time we must continue to remain vigilant with our mitigation procedures in place for everyone to remain safe.”

With the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, the Medical Chief of Staff and medical experts St. Kitts initiated a comprehensive operational response including an early and aggressive quarantine, testing and contact tracing program that has proven to be successful. It has been 29 days since the last case was reported. As such, Government has begun to ease restrictions to allow for more economic activity and for citizens to have more exercise time outside their homes.

Federation has succeeded in flattening the curve, however, with the advice of our medical experts, the borders remain closed. Everyone is advised to exercise precautions and adhere to the regulations and measures put in place to ensure the safety and health of all residents and citizens, even as restrictions have begun to be incrementally relaxed in the Federation and around the Caribbean.

Therefore, limited curfews remain in effect as follows:

Limited curfew (relaxed restrictions wherein persons may leave their residence go to work, to shop for essential items but curfews in effect every night):

  • Tuesday, May 19 through Friday, May 22 from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Beaches will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. for swimming and exercising only with the social distancing measures of remaining at least 6 feet apart in full effect with the exception of persons living in the same household.

In addition to reporting that all 15 confirmed positive cases have recovered with 0 deaths, a total of 391 persons have been tested for COVID-19 to date, 15 of whom tested positive with 373 persons tested negative and 3 test results pending. 1 person is currently quarantined in a government facility while 1 person is quarantined at home and 0 persons are in isolation. A total of 813 persons have been released from quarantine. St. Kitts & Nevis has one of the highest testing rates in CARICOM and the Eastern Caribbean and uses only the molecular tests which are the gold standard of testing.

St. Kitts & Nevis’ medical experts further advise that all persons who need to be tested have been tested at this time.

Going forward, we hope everyone, and their families remain safe and healthy.

For more information on COVID-19, please visit www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html and/or http://carpha.org/What-We-Do/Public-Health/Novel-Coronavirus.