Government is to meet with frustrated water truckers this week to help solve the current water shortage.

Truckers last week criticised limited access to fresh water after the opening hours for water outlets were greatly reduced.

But on Friday, in a statement in the House of Assembly, Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess said that operational hours had been cut to allow water levels at the facilities to be restored overnight.

The Minister said such conservation was vital to ensure that areas such as Cedar Park and Mary Victoria Road, where many residents do not have water tanks, do not run dry.

"The current severe demand has required the implementation of restricted hours of operation," said Mr. Burgess. "The reduced operating hours are a temporary measure and it is our hope that regular operating hours, that is 24 hours per day, seven days per week, will be restored soon, rainfall permitting."

So far this year, just over 16 inches of rainfall have been reported on the Island, around four inches less than normal.

Combined with the reduced opening hours, truckers have been left lining up outside the water outlets struggling to bring water to a growing number of customers.

Mr. Burgess said: "Some nine million imperial gallons of water were sold to truckers during the last month, a fact that demonstrates the severity of the water shortage."

However, the Minister said the problems might be solved by the end of the summer even without rainfall. He said the Tynes Bay Water Treatment Plant was being expanded to double the production of fresh water to around a million gallons per day. The project is expected to be finished in August.

Another two water facilities have been approved for construction in the East End to make up for the loss of the Club Med reverse osmosis plant, closed in 2008 with the demolition of the hotel, and the Parks Gate Trucker outlet, closed last year due to a lack of water being produced. Mr. Burgess also said that the former baselands in Southside are being used to store fresh water.

On Thursday, the Minister spoke with Russ Ford, President of the Bermuda Water Truckers Association (BWTA), to arrange a meeting to discuss the water shortage to be held some time this week. The phone call came lees than an hour before the BWTA met to discuss the issue.

Mr. Ford said: "Some of the measures we discussed during the meeting on Thursday will be brought up with the minister.

"Any solution will have to be tri-partisan, dealing with the owners and the truckers, the government and the public as a whole."

Both Mr. Ford and Mr. Burgess stressed the importance of the public working to conserve water to help reduce the growing pressure on water providers.

"Water will always be one of Bermuda's most precious resources," said Mr. Burgess. "We can ill afford to relax in this area."

Environmental group Greenrock questioned Government's emphasis on using reverse osmosis plants on Friday, instead suggesting that water catchment systems, particularly in the East End, could be more effective when combined with conservation efforts.

The organisation said: "Reverse osmosis is a very expensive way to get water. Not only is it energy intensive, it also relies heavily on mechanical parts, and history has shown us these plants can be prone to failures.

"In the last two years, we have seen the cost of a truckload of water climb. This technology is not the silver bullet solution, but rather a last resort.

"By using water catchments across the Island and having homes maintain their roofs and tanks, promoting water conservation and setting guidelines, Government could tackle this problem more effectively then by just relying on more osmosis plants to be built."

Among the conservation strategies suggested by the group are duty tariff relief on appliances designed to save water, looking at 'grey water systems,' which recycle water from showers or sinks for toilets or landscaping, and encouraging people to check their tanks for leaks and water quality.