Although they are surrounded by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean island of Eleuthera, located around 80 kilometres east of Nassau in the Bahamas, has their fair share of challenges when it comes to the supply of fresh, potable water. To aid them in improving their quality of water and reliability of potable water, GE will be building a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination facility for Water and Sewerage Corporation Bahamas.
Under the terms of the 15-year outsourcing service agreement, GE Water & Process Technologies will build, own, and operate (BOO) a SWRO desalination facility that will supply North Eleuthera 600,000 imperial gallons (2,727,654 litres) of clean drinking water a day. The new plant will be GE’s fourth BOO desalination facility on the island.
Situated in North Eleuthera, the new facility will serve an estimated 7,500 residents and is expected to begin commercial operation in the first quarter of 2018.
“We are committed to providing a reliable, accessible, affordable and safe water supply to all Bahamians. This latest seawater desalination plant in Eleuthera, the fourth by GE on the island, will bring much needed freshwater to our residents,” Cyprian Gibson, assistant general manager – Family Islands, Water and Sewerage Corporation Bahamas, said.
“GE’s build, own, operate water treatment solutions provide fresh, potable water with little to no capital expenditure for our customers. We handle the entire process from equipment installation to startup to operations as well as maintenance, repair and troubleshooting,” global leader, engineered systems – GE Water & Process Technologies, Kevin Cassidy, said. “GE’s outsourcing capabilities are ideal for islands that need seawater desalination for freshwater, and we have worked extensively with Water and Sewerage Corporation Bahamas on many projects to successfully bring clean water to Eleuthera.”
