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Water restrictions on French side #298020
03/22/2023 11:29 AM
03/22/2023 11:29 AM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman Offline OP
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SXMScubaman  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ž

"The Collectivitรฉ of St. Martin has issued a decree to temporarily ban the use of water for certain functions until further notice.

The decision was taken in consideration of the current drought as well as the weather and sea conditions impacting the production of water at Galisbay. These have led to difficulties recently in providing enough drinking water on daily for the population and the need to ensure sufficient stock for hygiene and public health.

Until further notice the watering of lawns, flowers, trees, shrubs and kitchen gardens is banned, as is the emptying and filling of swimming pools. Washing of cars is also banned except vehicles used for medical reasons, food transport and vehicles used for security.

These conditions will be adjusted or lifted according to stabilisation of water production. This order is executed under the authority of the Director General of Services (DGS), Chief of Territorial Police, and Chief of the Fire Brigade (Sapeurs Pompiers).

A temporary ban has also been issued on swimming and water sport activities at Galisbay Beach from March 21 until April 3 due to the opening of the channel."

(Source: Collectivitรฉ of St. Martin)

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Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298025
03/22/2023 01:11 PM
03/22/2023 01:11 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
You know, it used to be that the only utility issues one needed to worry about on SXM was GEBE's service, or lack thereof. GEBE continues to do it's rather stinky job of providing electric "service", but now it seems like every time you turn around, there is a water outage on the French side. Haven't stayed on the French side in a few years, but before I stay over there again, I think I would inquire as to whether the property in question has a cistern or some other kind of back up water system. From what I understand (and I could definitely be wrong) the issue is that the water and sewer system has not kept up with the rapid growth of housing. Anyone have any fairly informed information about the topic?


Carol Hill
Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298031
03/22/2023 02:18 PM
03/22/2023 02:18 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman Offline OP
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SXMScubaman  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
I would never entertain or recommend anybody to stay on the French side. I question the hygiene of the Bars along Orient and elsewhere when water is shut off on the French side.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298034
03/22/2023 02:28 PM
03/22/2023 02:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
So, what does hygiene at the bars--at which you yourself eat all the time--have to do with staying on the French side??


Carol Hill
Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: Carol_Hill] #298036
03/22/2023 03:07 PM
03/22/2023 03:07 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,258
Kennys Offline
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Kennys  Offline
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Posts: 5,258
Well asked lol.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: Carol_Hill] #298040
03/22/2023 03:19 PM
03/22/2023 03:19 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman Offline OP
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SXMScubaman  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
Maybe a better word would have been sanitation at these beach bars when fresh water is turned off or not available for food preparers to wash hands. My post was a two part statement. One staying on the French side without reliable water and the other referencing the Beach bars without a proper means of washing hands during food prep.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298041
03/22/2023 03:30 PM
03/22/2023 03:30 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 248
Shelby2 Offline
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Shelby2  Offline
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Posts: 248
I'm thinking the same...besides washing hands, what about washing dishes, utensils? I remember one year we were at a beach bar on Orient, no names mentioned here, but popular place!!..but no running water and they were bringing in buckets of sea water to wash dishes, glasses, etc....sinks backing up with sludge....ewwwwww....never ate there again!

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298042
03/22/2023 03:33 PM
03/22/2023 03:33 PM
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 130
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
C
CaribbeanCanadians Offline
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CaribbeanCanadians  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 130
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
I agree with SXMScubaman, when there's water shortage issues, people tend to cut corners and not use proper hygiene practices. I got Hepatitus A (no running water) from sewage contamination at a beach bar in Nevis (ST. Kitts). When we're spending a lot of money on a vacation, the last thing we want to worry about is getting fresh water. For that reason alone, we would never stay on the French side.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298046
03/22/2023 03:58 PM
03/22/2023 03:58 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
And I say again--sanitation at beach bars is a totally DIFFERENT question than staying on the French side. Just a question--does Rosie's have running potable water???


Carol Hill
Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298049
03/22/2023 04:11 PM
03/22/2023 04:11 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 865
Mississauga, ON, Canada
Southshore Offline
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Southshore  Offline
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Posts: 865
Mississauga, ON, Canada
Just curious - where does the drinking/washing water come from on either side of the island? Is there a de-salination plant? Or any type of underground source? Or rainwater collection?

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: Southshore] #298050
03/22/2023 04:33 PM
03/22/2023 04:33 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Water on both sides of the island comes from de-sal plants.


Carol Hill
Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298053
03/22/2023 05:55 PM
03/22/2023 05:55 PM
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 207
luvtotravel Offline
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luvtotravel  Offline
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Posts: 207
Where does it say the water is being shut off? There are restrictions on what may be looked at as non essential use. Happens in many places when hot and drought conditions. If not mistaken happened recently in California.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: luvtotravel] #298054
03/22/2023 06:27 PM
03/22/2023 06:27 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,466
Central Florida!
luvtotravel--this particular note has to do with water restrictions. However, there have been NUMEROUS reports in recent months of water outages for several hours, possibly up to a day or more, of water outages, particularly in the Orient area.


Carol Hill
Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298059
03/22/2023 10:27 PM
03/22/2023 10:27 PM
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 6
ottawa ontario
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tdl Offline
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ottawa ontario
We are presently staying on the French side above Grand Case and having a fabulous time. So far my personal hygiene has been quite acceptable lol!!

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: tdl] #298060
03/22/2023 10:37 PM
03/22/2023 10:37 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman Offline OP
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SXMScubaman  Offline OP
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Posts: 18,564
Auburn, WA
Not worried about yours. ๐Ÿ˜ Workers in the food service could be questionable.๐Ÿคž

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298061
03/23/2023 03:55 AM
03/23/2023 03:55 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 412
Michigan
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cacapasa Offline
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 412
Michigan
We recently returned from three weeks on the island, all of which time we were residing on the French side, at Orient to be exact. We experienced a number of evenings and some daytime hours without running water. There were two reasons. First, there was water line construction work underway from about the Hope Estate area south to about where the Price Leader store is located. They were actively working there most nights and traffic had been diverted to a poorly marked "deviation." If that weren't frustrating enough, during that time one of the three pumps at the French desalination plant broke down and that disrupted the water supply for over a day or so until repairs were made.

It should be noted that back here in the States, there are many communities that have or are experiencing the exact same problems, stemming from a lack of sufficient investment in the infrastructure. Just think of all the water going to waste in California now due to inadequate retention and storage facilities. I have no idea how many privately-owned cisterns there are on the island, but for sure they contribute little to the overall supply of potable water. Meanwhile, drought or no drought, there is no significant effort at all on either side of the island to collect and store storm water as a reserve or to supplement sweetened seawater. Neither side has enough extra capacity to help the other much during times when service is under stress.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: SXMScubaman] #298097
03/23/2023 03:49 PM
03/23/2023 03:49 PM
Joined: Oct 2022
Posts: 25
2
280z1977 Offline
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Several years ago we stayed at a fancy resort on Guadeloupe. The water was shut off there for several hours every day. The hotel told us to fill our bathtub before we went out every morning and they brought several bottles of water to our room each day. This is not something I care to repeat. We have not been back to Guadeloupe since.

Re: Water restrictions on French side [Re: Carol_Hill] #298102
03/23/2023 06:31 PM
03/23/2023 06:31 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,772
So. Shore MA.
jollymonsrv Offline
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Posts: 1,772
So. Shore MA.
AMEN๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿ‘โค๏ธ


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