The Ministry of Public Works has detailed its plan to temporarily shut off Government piped water customers to assist those who rely on water trucks.

In a statement yesterday, the government announced that the plan would not affect “essential customers” such as the King Edward Memorial VII Hospital, Cedar Park and Mary Victoria estates, who are solely reliant on the piped water supply.

Government piped water customers in Pembroke, Devonshire, Smith’s and Hamilton Parish will be affected first, with a shut-off scheduled to run from June 12 to June 18, with a second shut-off period scheduled from June 26 to July 2.

Southampton and Sandys will be next, with piped water service being turned off from June 19 to June 25 and again from July 3 to July 9.

A spokeswoman said: “The Government’s piped water customers will be given credit for the monthly fee charged during this time of restricted access.

“The majority of piped customers across the island have had access to water on demand, and will continue to have this ability during the periods that the piped service is on. Piped customers are encouraged to fill their tanks leading up to these outage periods and monitor their water levels throughout them.

“The Ministry of Public Works and the Bermuda Water Truckers Association would like to thank the public for their co-operation and pledge to meet the needs of our community.”

While Bermuda had one of the wettest January’s on record, every month since has been drier than average. As of this afternoon, the Bermuda Weather Service has recorded 18.14in of rain this year, compared to an average of 22.72in during the period.

Some showers are expected this weekend, but the weather is forecast to clear again by Monday.