Today Newspaper St. Maarten

Pumping capacity significantly higher

St. Maarten – The first of three new pumps for the pump-house in Sucker Garden were switched on Friday. The other two should arrive in February and once all three are online, alongside an existing pump, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning, Environment and Infrastructure will have a total capacity to pump 27, 500 tons of water out of the Great Salt Pond every hour.
The pump that was switched on Friday has a capacity to pump 5, 400 tons of water per hour and each of the two new ones that will arrive in February have the capacity to pump 11, 125 tons per hour.
“This gives us flexibility in moving water from the Fresh Pond to the Salt Pond and it also means we won’t have to open Great Bay unless there’s a major calamity like Hurricane Lenny. We will be at full capacity by Hurricane season and be able to meet the local standard of keeping the water at 70 centimeters below sea level,” Head of the Infrastructure Department Claudius Buncamper said.
With this new pump in place and more on their way the department will move over to phase two of the entire project next week. The second phase is the construction of building at the Public Works yard on Pond Island. Working on laying four foot pipes that connect to the pipes and hard surfacing the Rolandus Canal all the way up to Bobby’s Marina will also continue as part of the project.