Learn About Our Desalination Plants
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Energy & Utilities, and Domestic Transport, through its Water Services Department, took a bold step to address the water supply deficit in 2024, by commissioning a United Arab Emirates (UAE) funded desalination plant at Canada Industrial Estate, and breaking ground on another at the C. A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site in Basseterre.
The Basseterre Desalination Plant was commissioned in February 2026, adding 2 million gallons to the 700,000 gallons of water that the desalination plant in Canada Industrial Estate supplies.
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The Path of Desalination
When we set out on the path of desalination, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure understood we were making a transformative investment in national resilience. What began with a solar-powered desalination project at Canada Estate—backed by the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund—was complemented by something even more ambitious: the construction of the two-million-gallon-per-day reverse osmosis plant at the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site.
At the same time, we focused keenly on plans for aquifer mapping, well drilling across key rural zones, and major pipeline upgrades in areas such as Bird Rock and Morne Peak. These efforts are not isolated—they are part of an integrated approach to ensure desalinated water flows reliably through our national water grid and to offset the deficit of potable water induced by climate change.
"We have outgrown our surface and groundwater supplies."
In St. Kitts-Nevis, it is very important for us to always remember that practically all of our public potable water comes from rainfall. Within a few short months we would no longer be able to make this boast, however. That is, of course, because we are now at a stage where we have outgrown our surface and groundwater supplies and must turn to desalination to help meet our demand.
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