Suriname’s primary water utility company, De Surinaamsche Waterleiding Maatschappij (SWM), has issued an urgent public appeal to households, businesses, and institutional users across the country to cut back on non-essential drinking water consumption, as global climate and meteorological bodies warn that the upcoming El Niño weather event is set to trigger prolonged dry spells and extreme drought across multiple regional territories in the coming months. SWM officials confirm that Suriname is not immune to the expected adverse impacts of this climate phenomenon.
The utility explains that the forecasted drought will put unprecedented additional strain on the country’s existing drinking water distribution network, with multiple overlapping factors worsening demand pressures. First, water consumption already sees a consistent seasonal surge during the annual school holiday period, when families spend more time at home and engage in more water-intensive activities. Second, soaring temperatures during the dry season drive even higher demand for drinking water: residents increase their frequency of showering to cool off, raise personal drinking water intake, and use more water to irrigate home gardens and outdoor plants.
To prepare for potential supply shortfalls, SWM has implemented continuous monitoring of water reserve levels and is developing contingency plans for multiple risk scenarios, all with the core goal of preserving uninterrupted access to safe drinking water for all communities. The company’s planning prioritizes measures that will deliver fair, efficient allocation of the nation’s available drinking water reserves if supply constraints occur.
Against this backdrop, SWM stresses that collective public action is critical to reducing avoidable strain on water systems. Cutting down on unnecessary water waste through intentional, conscious use can lower overall demand pressure and ensure that sufficient drinking water remains available for all residents through the dry season.
To guide the public, SWM has released a set of practical, easy-to-adopt water-saving tips for households. These recommendations include only running washing machines when fully loaded and using the appliance’s built-in water-saving cycle, washing vehicles with a bucket rather than an open garden hose that wastes water, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, shaving, or lathering up during showers, shortening shower times to reduce excess water use, watering outdoor plants and gardens only during early morning or late evening hours to minimize evaporation loss, and washing dishes in a filled sink rather than leaving a tap running continuously during cleaning.