Basseterre, St. Kitts (MoPIEUDT NEWS) – Cromwell Williams, Water Manager and Engineer at the St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD), stated that desalination and drilling additional wells comprise two significant prongs in the WSD’s approach to water management in St. Kitts. Williams was, at the time, speaking at a progress update session by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities, and Domestic Transport, and the Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology and Post on June 5, 2025.
Providing additional context for the water supply problems that many residents around the island have experienced, Williams stated:
“We have always known to avoid this situation in the first instance, […] we had to keep drilling new wells. That, unfortunately, did not happen in the previous years. We also [knew] that there would have come a time when our groundwater resources would not [be] adequate to meet our demand.”
Crediting Minister Maynard for his scientific and aggressive approaches to rectifying water supply issues, Williams shared that the Utilities Minister examined the root causes, potential solutions, and the cost-benefits of those solutions, which ultimately led to the pursuit of desalination in Basseterre and the decision to drill more wells to exploit additional groundwater sources.
Williams announced:
“Today, we have a 2 million gallon per day desalination plant that is about 75% completed. We should start pumping the highest quality potable water from that plant into our system by next month (July).”
The desalination plant is on track for commissioning by August 2025.
Williams also mentioned progress on the restart of the WSD’s well-drilling program, stating:
“We have just issued a letter of acceptance to a well-drilling company out of Trinidad and Tobago for a contract of EC$25 million to drill about ten wells around St. Kitts.”
Williams also shared that the WSD anticipates the company’s activity will facilitate a return to round-the-clock service in Basseterre and St. Peters by September and in some rural areas by the end of 2025.
