Churches and businesses are being called on to help people short of water, the Minister of Works and Engineering announced this afternoon.

Derrick Burgess also said the capacity of the Tynes Bay Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant is to be increased from 500,000 gallons a day to one million gallons a day later this year.

And in addition, in conjunction with the Bermuda Land Development Corporation, the containerised RO plant will be moved to St. George's with the intent of increasing supply to the BLDC system at the East End of the Island.

The move comes as the Island continues to suffer a lack of rainfall and demand for water increases.

This afternoon Mr. Burgess said: “We are calling upon churches and businesses at this time to assist. These facilities generally have larger water tanks and generally use only a small portion of the stored water.

“In this regard, we are pleased to note that only this morning Kelly Harris, Principal Civil Engineer, Water and Sewage, met with Bishop Vernon Lamb of First Church of God, North Shore, who advised regarding the amount of water available from the church's sources.

“It was agreed that the church would provide water for its members where possible. We applaud this initiative and express the hope that other churches in the community will provide water, if available, to their members during this challenging period. We also hope that businesses will follow this example by making water available to their staffs.”

* Full story in tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.