Water Authority Cayman Responsible With Every Drop
T
he Water Authority Cayman was founded in 1983, when the island’s Water Authority Law was passed. The growing importance of protecting and providing clean water can be traced with developments at the Authority. In 1983, it occupied a Government-owned threebedroom house in George Town and had a staff of just five. In 2016, by contrast, it employs over 100 people and supplies pure, wholesome and affordable drinking to nearly 20,000 customers around the islands. The Authority serves it rapidly-expanding client base (it has tripled in numbers since 2006) through a range of facilities it has developed, and continues to develop, since its foundation. These include five RO plants - four of which are located on Grand Cayman and the fifth in Cayman Brac – ten separate reservoirs, a water works located in the Lower Valley, and a state-of-the-art Sequencing Batch Reactor wastewater treatment works, completed in 2004, that has a treatment capacity of 2.5 million US gallons per day. In addition, it operates a wellfield in East End, where water is pumped from 10 wells into an 80,000 US gallon reservoir. In thirty short years therefore, the Authority has changed to the extent that it is almost unrecognizable from its original form. The Authority is now a modern organization, offering its clients online access to their billing, e-payments and a range of methods to pay. The Authority’s website is a testament
to the transparency of the organization: in addition to information on all of the board of directors, regulation and policies, clients can access annual reports going all the way back to the beginning of the organization – something many corporate organizations could perhaps learn from. All of the authority’s activities are driven by its four-pillar mission: i) To ensure that the entire population of the Cayman Islands has access to pure and affordable potable water, as well as regulating other entities that are licensed by the Government to provide water supplies. ii) To protect and develop groundwater resources for the benefit of present and future populations of the Cayman Islands. iii) To provide for the collection, treatment and disposal of sewage within the islands in a manner that is safe, efficient and affordable; iv) To operate in such a manner to be financially self-sufficient, while contributing to the economy of these islands and achieving a reasonable and acceptable return on capital investments.
CSR INITIATIVES Beyond the Authority’s core mission, it provides for a range of impressive CSR initiatives on the islands. For example, every year the Authority offers a scholarship of up to CI$30,000 to what it deems to be a suitably qualified Caymanian to obtain an undergraduate academic or technical/vocational degree or diploma in a field of study related to the work that the Authority does itself. Since the scholarship’s inception over ten years ago, its recipients have gone on to study in universities all over the world, including the US, the UK and Canada. Some, such as the 2010 recipient, Sabrina Douglas, have even come back to work at the Authority. The Authority extends its support to local students by offering work experiences programs to current and recent graduates. It
has developed specialized programs so that students are gaining meaningful work, where they obtain applicable skills for the workplace. Programs are available for students from the age of 14 upwards and typically involve students spending between four and eight weeks of the summer working at the Authority’s headquarters. Those students who aren’t enrolled on a work experience program can still learn about the Authority and the work it does, through its visits to educational institutions on the islands.
The educational scholarships and programs are the most visible way in which the company gives back to the community but other, sometimes less noticeable work, which is just as important. For example, in August 2015, the Authority sponsored the annual Cayman Aids Foundation Run2Zero marathon, the international football summer camp for kids, the first United World Colleges event on the islands. In April, it sponsored Feed Our Future, a local charity, the NVCO Caring Cousins initiative and even the Cayman Invitational international athletics event. In fact, the scope of the Authority’s giving back to communities in any number of ways is impressive.
ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS AND THE FUTURE The Water Authority Cayman continues to evolve. In 2016, work is progressing on the
Bodden Town Pipeline Project, with nearly 2,500 feet of new pipeline being installed in total. The osmosis plant in the Lower Valley is also being upgraded. The Authority is also in negotiations with other water suppliers, namely a local firm by the name of Consolidated Water, for the provision of new retail licenses, which were due to expire in June of this year. Elsewhere, a growing population and swelling tourist numbers in the Cayman Islands mean that the Authority will have to work ever harder to maintain the four pillars set out in its mission statement. Water is a resource which has been taken for granted for far too long, but the Water Authority Cayman’s work in education and informing the public has gone some way to changing these perceptions. Thankfully, as the world comes around to realizing the true value of water, the Water Authority Cayman is already one step ahead.
Administrative Headquarters: 13G Red Gate Road George Town Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1104 Grand Cayman KY1-1102 CAYMAN ISLANDS Fax: (345) 949-0094 E-mail:Water Authority - Cayman http://www.waterauthority.ky/
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