TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Water issues?

Another reason to avoid French side for us. No water for French beach or town operations to wash hand. Not for me especially with current viruses out there.

This just posted on FB

Le Pélican Saint-Martin
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Society. Water will be back tonight at the tap

The negotiations between the Free Water Association, the establishment of the Waters and the Public Service delegate (Saur) seem to have paid fruit for the 20 % of the private population, since last Friday, of access to drinking water. Water stocks are reconstituted shows the EEASM in a statement to read below in its entirety.

The establishment of water and sanitation in Saint-Martin (EEASM) communicates:

The measures taken by the and the to avoid a total break in the drinking water distribution in Saint-Martin for the past week have made it possible to rebuild stocks quite significantly. In this sense, and because the and Saur are fully aware of the discomfort caused by both the population and professionals, the water distribution will therefore be fully restored this evening, Friday, March 6, 2020.

This weekend of "respite" for users will be used to evaluate the impacts of restrictions and the possibility of ending them. A new situation will therefore be made on Monday and will adapt the device deployed for the past week to the situation.
We invite users to a sustainable use of the water resource, this collective awareness will allow us to reduce the risk of too frequent cuts in the future.

L and the continue their efforts and mobilization to continue to ensure public water service in the best conditions and thank the people for their patience and understanding

Thanks for posting. Tough situation..

Back home for a week now and have some time to reflect

Only had one really good shower then entire 12 days we were there - most of the rest were with bottles of water we'd saved from whenever the water came one - flushing toilets became quite an issue - there is NO way I would've gone swimming in the pool everyone was dipping water buckets from... just ewww...

What I've realized after coming home was that the most frustrating things were the lack of information and the lack on consistency - we'd be told water from 8 to 10 - but not have any at all most mornings - evenings somewhat more consistent -

I left a couple of the facebook SXM groups over being called whiny and told to go with the flow, etc.. we packed for being able to wash our clothing - we planned for being able to cook in our apartment - it did have an impact on our vacation - didn't ruin it - and we will have stories to tell - but there was some extra stress, to be certain

ftr... a pool does not double as a shower - freshwater means chlorinated which is worse for skin than saltwater - an ocean does not double as a shower - and no one should ever use most of our shampoos/soaps in the oceans as they are harmful to reefs (baby shampoo is an exception)

also ftr... grateful that this group is well moderated - cannot believe that mods allowed the name calling and belittling that was allowed on facebook - all I wanted was information and a place to express frustration - oh well - live and learn

jborosa,

Sorry your vacation was impacted - I get it. But by the same token, imagine if you lived there and had to deal with this kind of situation on a regular and on-going basis. I'd go nuts. Regardless, sorry you and so many others had to tolerate this and pay for it, too, in hard earned vacation dollars.

As far as being moderated well, this forum - like most others, I'm sure - tries and does a pretty decent job - I know the main moderators are ever watchful of potential issues - but like everyone else, they have had their problems, too. Of late, people have come to understand that nonsense will not be tolerated and are very respectful of the forum and its rules. And beyond that, I think they understand that everyone is genuinely trying to the best of their ability to be helpful.

And here's to next year - next trip. Going back?!

jbarosara--I'm sure I would have been very upset with that situation also. We were without power here in Florida for 10 days after Irma and we have our own pool, so we were able to flush our toilets and to sort of get clean, but there is no substitute for having a real shower. We have well water, so didn't have running water for that period of time. It was rough. Not at all what I would want to deal with on a vacation. We do a lot of cooking while on vacation, so that would have been a real bummer also, to have to go out all the time.

I truly hope that your next vacation is better.

Moderation is a very tough job, but there is no reason for name calling or abuse of other members.

oh heck yeah - going back - impacted but not ruined - it's still paradise -

in fact, we're staying in the same apartment - landlord was lovely - did all she could to help us

and absolutely agree it is far worse on the locals than it was for us

Carol - that was really the point of my post - I appreciate what the moderators here do to keep it sane...:-)

We had a huge ice storm here in 2009 - we were without power of any sort for 12 days - had running water but it was so cold that we had to keep it running all the time to keep pipes from freezing - our house was 48 degrees with our gas logs going non-stop - charged devices in our cars and had to use flash lights and/or lanterns after dark ... most miserable 12 days of my life

I take for granted the 'modern conveniences' at times - but am back home now - and cold again (even though it is sort of spring here now) - and really would trade a hot shower for a warm breeze...:-)

Yes, we all take modern conveniences for granted, but I think it's not unreasonable at all to expect running water on a vacation. Here's hoping you have an early spring and a much better trip next time!

Does anyone know if the water issues have been resolved yet??

With all the constantly reoccurring issues the French side seems to have I don’t know why people even stay over there. It’s like if you knew one of the four parachutes was not gonna open would you still jump out of the airplane? No! Exception being if you know for a fact you’re Villa has a cistern and can take rain or truck water if needed. Might be a bit unfair but if you know all of this going in then don’t complain when you can’t take a shower or flush the toilet. Just IMO. 😊

forever--This situation with the water was VERY unusual. The Dutch side has it's pretty fare share of issues with water and especially power. I think I will close this one now before I say something that I will regret.