St Michael BWRO Desalination Plant, Barbados
Project Timeline:
Government water supply review begins
1 August 1995
Commencement
January 1999
Start-up
15 February 2000
Formal dedication ceremony
10 June 2000
Key Players:
Plant type
Brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO)
Feedwater source
Ten brackish water wells
Production capacity
30,000m³/day product water
Membrane system
Single array, spiral-wound, thin-film composite RO elements
Membrane housing
Cylindrical pressure vessels
Operational pressure
Low
Indicative power consumption
1kWh/m³ of product water
Water price
$1.78m³ (at plant), $2.16m³ (distributed)
Construction time
15 months
Contract duration
15 years
Plant capital cost
$28 million
Connection cost
$5.5 million
Reservoir construction cost
$1 million
Associated water conservation cost
$3 million
Client
Barbados Water Authority
Lead contractor
Ionics Freshwater Ltd (Ionics / Williams Industries joint venture company)
Reservoir construction
SpanCrete Caribbean
