Days after emergency repair work wrapped up on a broken water transmission main at Dominica’s E.C. Loblack Bridge, the Dominican Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO) is still working to bring full, reliable water service back to dozens of households connected to its WA1 distribution network.
The incident that triggered the outage unfolded on Monday, July 20, when routine inspections revealed critical damage to the major main running near the bridge. The damage was severe enough to require immediate, full-scale repairs, which forced utility officials to cut water service across multiple communities served by the WA1 line. By late Monday afternoon, work crews had made enough progress to gradually reconnect a portion of the affected areas, but low water pressure and continued outages persisted through Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday. Many residential customers still woke Tuesday without consistent access to running water.
In an official public update shared this week, DOWASCO confirmed that full system stabilization and restoration is still an active work in progress, as technicians work to reset pressure levels across the entire WA1 network. “We are still working to fully restore service on the WA1 Network following emergency repairs on a damaged main at the EC Loblack bridge on July 20,” the company’s statement reaffirmed.
The utility specifically noted that customers in elevated communities are facing the most persistent disruptions. Neighborhoods including Castle Comfort, Fortune, and Bellevue Rawle will likely continue to see intermittent water service until the entire system is fully reset, as lower pressure in the network makes it harder to move water to higher ground.
DOWASCO’s field teams have remained deployed around the clock to speed up the process of returning water distribution to normal operation, and company officials have issued a formal apology to customers for the ongoing disruption to daily life. The statement also included a note of gratitude: “DOWASCO thanks affected customers for your patience and understanding while we work to have the system fully restored as quickly as possible.”
As of the latest update, DOWASCO has not announced a specific timeline for when full water service will be restored across all communities connected to the WA1 network. The utility has confirmed, however, that crews will remain on site working continuously until every customer sees a full return to normal service.