The remaining Atlantic hurricane season could substantially restrict the nation’s supply of reverse osmosis water.
Melford Nicholas, the minister of information, broadcasting, telecommunications, and information technology, addressed as the cabinet’s spokesperson on the challenges of reversible osmosis water suppression during storms and hurricanes.
“There is history related to the suppression of reverse osmosis produced water when there is a passage of a storm, the seabed from which the water is drawn becomes turbulent with the passage of storms.
According to Nicholas, the water flow will be further impacted by these uncontrollable weather conditions during the rest of the hurricane season.
He explained that “This often prunes to be disruptive to them being able to produce water to the desalination plants. This is because the increased churn brings a lot more solid material into the intake valves causing the filtering system to be further damaged.
“The proper operation practice is to suppress the production of water in those circumstances,” he said.
Finding alternate ways to draw potable water from aquifers might be one strategy for reducing reverse osmosis suppression.
According to Nicholas, “the run-off water is insufficient to bring the country’s surface water back to a suitable production level when it rains up to four inches.”
He also mentioned the potential for storage expansion. However, Nicholas emphasized how difficult it will be to get to a point where storage tanks can avoid suppression in reverse osmosis-produced water given the worldwide supply chain disturbances witnessed over the previous three years.
