Government to Rectify Salt Cay Water Problems

The Turks and Caicos Islands Government plans to repair Salt Cay’s rainwater-storage infrastructure, restore its main reverse-osmosis plant and purchase additional equipment as part of a wider effort to prevent another severe water shortage on the island.

A resident of Salt Cay Fetching water from a drum

Minister responsible for the Water Undertaking Hon. E. Jay Saunders said a replacement filter for the island’s reverse-osmosis plant had arrived in the country and was being installed. The work requires some retrofitting because an exact replacement for the failed component was not available.

“We’re just about to solve the problem because the filter is here,” Saunders said during an appearance on Financially Speaking with Drexwell Seymour.

While the plant remains out of operation, the Water Undertaking has been sending 105 five-gallon bottles of water to Salt Cay every three days. Residents with water in private tanks have also been sharing their supplies.

Saunders said the bottled-water shipments were meeting immediate drinking-water needs but were not an adequate solution for bathing, washing, flushing toilets and other high-volume domestic uses.

The minister visited Salt Cay and observed that a number of the five-gallon containers still held water, suggesting that the emergency supply was meeting residents’ immediate needs at that time. The containers are being refilled and returned to the island.

He said the immediate crisis began after a large filter in the reverse-osmosis plant failed. Technicians initially attempted to repair it but later determined that it had to be replaced. Because the precise model could not be sourced, a similar component was ordered and shipped to the territory.

Saunders said the incident exposed a more serious weakness in Salt Cay’s water infrastructure: the deterioration of government-owned tanks that were once used to collect and store rainwater.

As the island moved towards potable water produced by the reverse-osmosis plant, rainwater collection was largely abandoned. Salt Cay has approximately 13 government tanks, but many have fallen into disrepair and were not available as emergency reserves when the plant stopped working.

Only one tank was being used to store water produced by the reverse-osmosis plant. Residents continued drawing from that supply after production stopped, and the tank eventually ran dry.

Saunders said the Government would now repair the neglected tanks and restore their ability to collect rainwater. The largest tank, located in the northern area of Salt Cay, has reportedly lost half of its roof. Another tank near the salt shed was left without gutters after roof repairs, preventing it from effectively capturing rainfall.

“It is better to have a tank full of rainwater than to have no water,” Saunders said, noting that generations of islanders relied on collected rainwater before desalinated water became the primary supply.

In addition to repairing the principal plant and the rainwater-storage system, the Government intends to acquire a smaller reverse-osmosis plant as a backup. Saunders said a unit costing approximately $30,000 could produce about 3,000 gallons of water and help keep the large northern storage tanks filled.

Funding for the smaller plant is expected to be placed in the budget.

The Government also plans to purchase a tanker capable of transporting approximately 1,000 gallons of water at a time. Currently, some residents run long garden hoses from the central storage tank to their homes, in some cases over distances of up to 1,500 feet or more.

Saunders said that method is inefficient because water can be lost through leaking hoses and connections. A tanker would allow the Water Undertaking to collect water from the main storage facility, transport it directly to homes and pump it into residents’ private tanks.

The proposed measures are intended to create several layers of protection: a repaired main desalination plant, a smaller backup plant, rehabilitated rainwater tanks and a more reliable system for delivering water to individual households.

Saunders said the Government is also reviewing the broader model used to produce and distribute water on Salt Cay, Grand Turk and South Caicos. Existing legislation reserves water production on those islands for the Government.

Cabinet has approved a proposal to amend the legislation so that alternative production and distribution arrangements can be considered. Saunders said the change could allow the territory to modernise water infrastructure while limiting the financial burden on the public sector.