Basseterre, St. Kitts (Public Infrastructure News) – Francis Zelaya, Plant Supervisor at the St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD), says that work on the Basseterre Desalination Plant is in advanced stages.
“We are currently in advanced stages of construction. Our 500,000-gallon water tank has been built already. We’ve had some equipment installed already, including some vessels. A lot of our infrastructure is already in place.”
Francis Zelaya | Plant Supervisor (Desalination)
Zelaya made the statement on the August 13th edition of the Water Line, during a conversation with WSD Assistant Engineer Diandra Jno-Baptiste, who oversees production and distribution island-wide.
Zelaya’s statement comes as citizens across the island are acutely focused on the progress of the new desalination plant in the wake of regular service interruptions initiated by the WSD as a necessary water conservation measure.
On August 15, 2025, Public Infrastructure News toured the new site with Zelaya, where that progress could be seen. At the shoreline, Zelaya indicated the locations of the intake and discharge lines and also explained why the WSD gave considerable thought to ensuring that the plant’s discharge does not have a negative impact on the ecosystem.
Zelaya identified the intake room as the building closest to the shore, and the one into which the intake lines feed. Inside, there are multiple pumps that operate to draw water into the facility.
From the intake building, the water will be sent up the hill to a nearby building where multimedia filters separate the largest particles from the seawater. The water will then be sent through a second sedimentation filter to separate the smaller particles.
Standing at the edge of the reverse osmosis (RO) building, Zelaya explained that inside it is a high-pressure pump and energy recovery devices (ERDs) that will work in tandem to send the water through a semi-permeable membrane at high pressure, to remove salt and unwanted minerals from the water.
The plant, which is scheduled to go online in the latter part of 2025, promises to end frequent service interruptions in Basseterre and the surrounding areas.
With an output of 2 million gallons per day, it should satisfy approximately 33% of the island’s daily water requirements which, according to Water Manager and Engineer Cromwell Williams, now stands at roughly 6 million gallons per day – 1 million gallons more than the WSD can supply daily from existing sources.
The Basseterre Desalination Plant is made possible by the Hon. Konris Maynard, with support from the Hon. Prime Minister, Dr. Terrance Drew and other Members of Parliament, the leadership of the Water Services Department, the expertise of Royal Utilities Ltd, and the kind contributions of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
