WAPA said more than 900 St. Croix customers received water filters during three-day distribution

Official document: https://www.viwapa.vi/docs/default-source/2023-pr/press-release-(1.25.24)---wapa-expresses-gratitude-to-customers-and-partner-agencies-for-successful-water-filter-distribution.pdf?sfvrsn=808b98c6_3

Archive page: https://www.viwapa.vi/news-information/press-releases/press-release-details/2024/01/25/wapa-expresses-gratitude-to-customers-and-partner-agencies-for-successful-water-filter-distribution

The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority said on January 25, 2024, that more than 900 St. Croix customers received water filters during a three-day distribution event held the previous week near the Midre Cummings playground in Frederiksted.

WAPA said eligible customers received a sink filter and a pitcher filter for use in homes and businesses, along with informational handouts in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

The authority said the distribution was funded through the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources Safe Drinking Water Fund after October 2023 testing found elevated lead and copper levels in water sampled at distribution meters. WAPA said those results differed from its regular testing, and that November 2023 sequential sampling by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found minimal lead and copper levels in 119 tap-water samples, with one sample above the action level taken from water that had been stagnant for about four days.

WAPA said another filter distribution was scheduled for February 5 through February 9, 2024, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at its Sunny Isle Business Office for customers who did not attend the earlier event.

The authority also said water-line replacement work on St. Croix had been completed in Estate Clifton Hill and in Christiansted and Frederiksted, that the Campo Rico rehabilitation project was about 70% complete, and that work in Hannah's Rest was set to begin in February 2024.