Bonaire is growing faster than its drinking water infrastructure, WEB investigates second water plant
KRALENDIJK – Demand for drinking water on Bonaire is growing so fast that WEB Bonaire may need additional production capacity again just a few years after the next expansion. The utility company is now also investigating whether the current production site in Hato will have enough space in the long term, or whether a second drinking water plant will have to be built elsewhere on the island.
According to WEB, drinking water demand has grown by 57 percent in seven years. Over a ten-year period, the increase is even 75 percent. The utility company attributes this growth to a combination of population growth, tourism and economic development.
In 2019, WEB produced almost 1.95 million cubic meters of drinking water. Based on figures through August, production for 2026 is expected to reach more than three million cubic meters.
The current production capacity is 9,600 cubic meters per day. During peak periods this year, an average of 9,300 cubic meters per day was already being produced. As a result, production is getting ever closer to maximum capacity.
Expanding again
WEB has already expanded drinking water production several times in recent years. Before 2021, production capacity was around 5,500 cubic meters per day. With a new water plant, this was increased to 7,200 cubic meters.
In 2025, another 2,400 cubic meters per day was added. Another expansion of 2,400 cubic meters is planned for 2027. According to WEB, the expansions of recent years cost approximately thirty million dollars.
At the same time, the more than forty-year-old installation that supplies seawater for the production of drinking water is being replaced. The Netherlands has made eight million euros available for this.
The current seawater intake can process 1,450 cubic meters per hour. This will become 2,400 cubic meters. As a result, the production site in Hato can ultimately be expanded to approximately 19,200 cubic meters of drinking water per day.
Growth continues
According to WEB, this does not definitively solve the capacity issue. If water consumption continues to grow at the same pace as over the past five years, the company expects to need new production capacity again around 2029 or 2030, following the 2027 expansion.
WEB has therefore built the drinking water plant in a modular fashion. New installations can be added when demand makes it necessary.
The company tries to keep expansion and growth in step as much as possible. Building too much extra capacity too early costs money, and those investments are ultimately passed on in drinking water rates. WEB calls it an ongoing challenge to make the infrastructure keep pace with the growth of Bonaire.
Second water plant
WEB is therefore also investigating how far the production site in Hato can still be expanded.
For the first time, serious consideration is being given to whether a second production site at another location on Bonaire will be needed in the long term. No decision has been made yet.
According to WEB, a second water plant means much more than just building a new production installation. The drinking water network would also have to be adapted, because water would then have to be distributed across the island from two different locations.
