We have to count the water
We have to count the water. The previous sentence is rather simple, to some it may not make sense, but let me explain. In Trinidad and Tobago, when we talk about water, WASA (Water And Sewage Authority) is it. Welcome to Hydropolitics of T&T 101. Hydropolitics is water politics.
In the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, water politics would fall into two categories according to P.P. Mollinga. First, “the everyday politics of water resources management.” Second, “the politics of water policy in the context of sovereign states.” Two actors are at play here. The first actor — manages and distributes the water, in this case, WASA. Next, the government including previous governments going back to the laws and policies that created and affected WASA over the years.
WASA is the only company, a state company responsible for the management and distribution of the water resources. We have all read the recent reports about WASA and we are all bracing for the impending battle between WASA, the government, and whatever else third parties that is dragged into this watery bacchanal. After all, that is how we do politics, with bacchanal. Hyrdopolitics for T&T can be easily classified as ‘standpipe politics’.
Whatever happens to WASA going forward after the dust settles, I am simply urging us to count the water. Water is a vital resource that we all need. Counting the water at all levels is essential to ensuring the population has reliable access. Beyond reliable access, it is 2021, and time enough that 24/7 access to water should be a reasonable expectation. This must be a reality, and in order for this to happen, we have to count the water.
Put it another way, we have to quantify and audit our water resources. 24/7 access for all, across all communities, on both islands, requires a robust and modern infrastructure. I am not a civil engineer, just a teacher who began dealing and trafficking in the world of data when started flying a drone about 4 years ago. Wanting to make sense of all the different types of data, overwhelmed and attempting to manage it all, I enrolled in a Data Science program after learning to code and doing a variety of data projects along the way.
Throughout the program, one of our projects required exploring an algorithm and its applications to real-world scenarios. In August 2020, I began working on another project with some colleagues but also teaching coding remotely to students in Trinidad and Tobago. This was mainly to experience what teachers were going through with remote instruction, but me killing a few birds with one stone, which included reinforcing my own knowledge of coding and data science. I was pretty much doing the basics of the data gathering, data analysis, and data cleaning with these students. Then things changed.
One student suggested we entered a national contest as a team. They had to do something relating to the theme of Public Health using the Roblox platform. Beyond coming 2nd place in the competition, these students also choose water and the issue relating to public health for their project. I also used the concept for one of my data science projects. It was also published on Towards Data Science in October 2020.
Another version can be found here: Can You Teach Data Science Principles of Middle Schoolers? Yes!
We have to count the water.
As a data scientist, I am interested in quantifying things. I like to build models using data. Data modeling helps us to think of various scenarios and possible solutions to a problem. Realizing that no model is perfect, (in fact, all models are wrong, but some are useful) modeling scenarios with data is a great way to learn data science and to solve problems.
To solve the water woes of Trinidad and Tobago, whatever happens to WASA, going forward to ensure that we can really have 27/7 access every, we need a robust modernized water infrastructure that relies on data and data science to make sure that every drop is accounted for.
We have to count the water.
