Largest Brackish Water Desalination Facility in Caribbean Open and Operating
A new water desalination plant in Barbados, West Indies, is now providing fresh, potable drinking water to one-sixth of the island's 264,000 people. The 30,000 cubic meter per day (7.9 million gallons per day) plant utilizes reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology.
Dedication ceremony launches new system operation
Along with local officials, Ionics, Incorporated and Barbados-based Williams Industries, Inc. participated in the dedication of the largest brackish water desalination facility in the Caribbean. The Honorable Rommel Marshall, Minister of Public Works and Transport, officiated.
In conjunction with the new desalination facility, a water education center also was established to serve as a venue for school children, island visitors and the general public to learn about water, its history on the island, and the role of water desalination.
Despite common opinions, Barbados is classified as a water-scarce country
At the dedication ceremony, Minister Rommel said that "in spite of what many think, Barbados, with its reputation for an excellent water supply, is classified by the United Nations Commission on Water as a water-scarce country, putting it just ahead of the desert nations of the Middle East for per capita water availability, and making it extremely vulnerable to the effects of cyclical droughts. The drought of 1994-1995 served to put the nation on notice that no longer could we continue to take our water supply for granted, and that it was necessary for us to take very serious stock of the situation."
Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Chairman David Millington said that the Barbados government was determined that the island's economic development would not be held back by the lack of availability of fresh water.
Desalination system result of a build-own-operate joint venture
Ionics Freshwater Ltd. formed a joint venture with Williams Industries to provide desalinated water to BWA on a build-own-operate, or privatized, basis. Under the terms of the agreement, Ionics Freshwater Ltd. will operate and maintain the facility and sell the desalinated water to the BWA for a period of up to 15 years.
"This facility is now our most secure source of potable water, being technologically capable of providing pure water over a wide variation in quality of feedwater supplies and, in the event of a national disaster, which of course we hope and pray will never occur, would be the one source likely to suffer least. In many respects this plant becomes a safety net, without which we have been doing our balancing acts for too long," said Minister Rommel.
Edited by Tracy Fabre