Officials gathered at Ffryes Beach on Friday to commission a new one-million-gallon-per-day reverse osmosis plant, marking a step toward solving Antigua’s water challenges.
The ceremony, held on World Water Day, brought together Governor General Sir Rodney Williams, Public Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas, and representatives from Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) and the Seven Seas Water Group.
“The reason why we’re here is to celebrate a part of the solution. And the solution is to have water 24 hours a day to all our consumers,” said John Bradshaw, General Manager of APUA. The plant operates under a build-own-operate-transfer arrangement, with APUA owning the infrastructure while Seven Seas owns the equipment.
The facility’s strategic location serves the southern region from Old Road Village to Jennings, areas that previously relied on wells often depleted during droughts. “Most areas in this facility here have water 24 hours a day,” Bradshaw noted, adding that improved water supply has already increased interest in local real estate.
When Minister Nicholas took office in January 2023, Antigua produced only 4.5 million gallons of water daily.
“The demands for water were in my face continually,” he recalled. Now, he has set an ambitious goal: “By the end of this year, I anticipate that 100 percent of the population of Antigua and Barbuda have a regular supply of water that is on their demand.”
This plant is part of a larger strategy that includes a second Seven Seas facility at Barnacle Point, scheduled to add two million gallons daily by August. “When we finish, we’ll have water 24 hours a day,” Nicholas said.
Seven Seas Water Group’s Senior Vice President Eric Arfalk highlighted the project’s efficiency: “This plant will provide safe, reliable, and energy-efficient water to APUA for the next 12 years.”
The partnership represents a USA-Caribbean cooperation.
“Water is life. It sustains our communities, fuels our economies, and nourishes our ecosystems. When Antigua and Barbuda is resilient, it contributes to a safer and more stable Caribbean, which in turn makes the United States safer. We both win,” said Tabitha Snowbarger from the US Embassy.
Beyond production, Nicholas is addressing distribution and infrastructure through multiple initiatives: a $60 million Chinese grant for re-piping, Japanese support for additional capacity, reservoir restoration, and system automation.
“The idea that we have hundreds of valves in our water system that requires Mr Bradshaw and his team to be up at 2am every morning is unacceptable,” Nicholas stated.
Daniel Kennedy, Chief Operations Officer at Seven Seas, emphasized their commitment to local development, “Our local teams are 90 percent or more local hires, and we take pride in that.”
Nicholas concluded with a bold commitment: “By the end of this year, not only will we remove the challenge that the population has with water, but it must no longer be a political issue.”
