Location: New Providence, The Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Capacity: 2.6 million US gallons per day (10,000 m3 per day)
Contract type: Design, Build, Own, Operate
Customer: Municipal/Government
Commissioning date: December 1997
This desalination facility started production in December 1997 and produces 2.6 million US gallons per day for the Water and Sewerage Corporation of the Bahamas. The desalinated water produced by the facility is used in the public drinking water supply for the island.
The facility operates under a 15-year design, build, own and operate agreement with the Water and Sewerage Corporation. Until the completion of the Blue Hills plant in July, 2006, which is also located on the island of New Providence and operated by Consolidated Water, this facility was both the largest seawater reverse osmosis plant operated by the Company and the largest seawater reverse osmosis plant ever built in the Bahamas.
The facility was designed with a full second pass membrane system, which means the desalinated water delivered to the Water and Sewerage Corporation contains less than 50 parts per million (ppm) of total dissolved solids. This allows the customer to blend the product water from the plant with the higher salinity ground water.
The plant includes a stand-by diesel driven generator, which along with the diesel driven high pressure pumps, allows the plant to be fully functional even when the normal electrical service is down, as may occur during a hurricane. The capital works also included the installation of a 6.0 million US gallon welded steel reservoir. Total reservoir storage capacity on site is 18.0 million US gallons.