INTERVIEW: APUA
Water Treatment Products, Services, and Improvement
• Equipment: Ultra-Filtration, Reverse Osmosis • Chemicals: Potable, UF, RO, Wastewater • Bacteria: WW H2S Odor, FOG, TSS, BOD • Sequestering: Iron, Manganese • Filters: RO Cartridges, Carbon, Calcite, Fe and H2S Removal
Caribbean-Wide Inventory and Service Water Tech Sales and Consulting, Inc.
Tel: (787) 601-6699
admin@watertechgroup.com | www.watertechgroup.com
gallons per day demand, and all of that is generated by APUA assets. At this point in time, we have been asked by the government to ensure that, during drought periods, we are able to match our demand. We are presently installing additional desalination units. We just signed off a contract to expand our desalination installations by an additional 3.2 million gallons, which we hope to have installed within the next 10 to 12 months. Lastly, what was called the telephone department has evolved into what is now called telecommunications. They have moved from being a telephone provider to providing landlines, mobile and internet services. In the case of the latter, they have just embarked on providing fiber optics to the homes.”
50 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
GREEN INITIATIVE APUA have a Green Antigua Initiative that was introduced roughly 10 years ago, aiming to spread the message of conservation in the context of water and electricity to several target groups. “Essentially, this was in response to the fact that unnatural water catchments were decreasing much faster than they used to because of climate change,” says Sharifa George, Public Relations Coordinator of APUA. “Water has been the focal point of our conservation exercise because we’re currently in a drought, which we’ve been combatting since 2010. We’ve attempted to mitigate the impacts by introducing a conservation schedule. We have sought to separate society into two groups: the most impres-
sionable, which is young people aged 12 and under, and mature adults. Our program speaks about conservation to children by educating them about the water production process. APUA primarily produces water through reverse osmosis. It is intense in terms of resources, electricity and finances. We try to express how precious water is as a resource, and for them to develop an appreciation of it. We then go into ways that they can have water in their homes and providing them with suggestions they can practice. We have found that once children get on board, their parents are more likely to follow suit.” APUA approach adults about conservation slightly differently. “We try to establish the value of conservation when it comes to saving costs, so that bills can be at a manageable rate and, at the same time, protecting the environment,” says Ms. George. “This initiative has worked for us. Most recently we have introduced the 2021 Water Conservation Schedule for the present drought. As COVID-19 becomes more manageable, we hope to resume this program. If not, we plan to make it virtual via presentations in primary schools. We do not want to miss a generation of young persons
