BARBADOS' drinking water may be of high quality; but there are several of our water sources which are not secure.

Many of the pumping stations and reservoirs are without security; and the wells, water, and chlorine pumps and canisters are fully accessible to anyone.

Yesterday, the Weekend Nation toured eight sites and found only two secured locations.

The first stop was Waterford where there was ready access to the building housing the pump.

The gate was unlocked, the fence broken, a padlock on the door to the building was unlocked and a window was broken.

"Someone broke into the building over a year ago and stole the telephone. The telephone has not been replaced and the window not repaired," said a source.

There was unhindered  access to the chlorine pumping house, chlorine tanks and  meters with which anyone could have tampered.

A stone's throw away, the pedestrian and vehicular entrances to the Codrington station in St. Michael were open, the chlorination and pumping houses unlocked and open with unhindered access to supplies.

Castle Grant in St. Joseph was also not secured.

While the door to the reservoir was locked, a window was open. The grounds, on which the police repeater station is located, were also unsecured.

In St. John, Newcastle Springs,  which was the first source of drinking water to Bridgetown, had two security breaches.

The springs are encased in a concrete vault. Slabs on the surface provide entrance to the springs and these are supposed to be padlocked, but one slab was removed and the underlying secondary slab was not padlocked.

At the side of the vault is another access which is a padlocked metal door, but the entire door has been dislodged from the concrete, providing unhindered access to the water.

Newcastle's chlorine station is located downhill from the springs and was secured with razor wire at the top of the fence.

The reservoir at Joe's River had two serious problems.

One of the seams of the fibreglass tank has sprung a leak, while another crack in the tank is gushing water.

At the top of the reservoir the hatch is unlocked, providing unfettered access to the water.

The pumping station at Haymans, St. Peter, remains in the same condition in which it was several months ago when it was highlighted by the Saturday SUN.

The doors and windows of the entire facility are wide open - complete access to the chlorine tanks and pumps, the well, the water pumps, and other equipment.

Sources said that in 1983, the security of the island's pumping stations and drinking water wells came to the fore when it was believed three escaped prisoners planned to poison the water supply. Police patrols were stepped up at the more than three dozen facilities around the island.

That security no longer exists.

terryally@nationnews.com