In the previous post about Aruba’s drinking water I explained why the water is so good and pure. In this post I’m going to give you a more detailed explanation about the purification process and more information about the water company.

Aruba has no other source of getting water then the Caribbean Sea. It doesn’t rain enough, there are no fresh water lakes, there are no rivers and under the ground is nothing to be found.

The water company started officially in 1932 as a very small operation. They needed to supply a population of 17.000 of fresh water. A growing economy and population made it clear that big investment was imminent.

During the decades the water company stepped up and made many multi-million-dollar investments in the quality of the water and reliability and purity of the water supply. At the present, the water company still invests millions of dollars in the continuing expansion of the capacity of the water infrastructure on Aruba.

The purification process

Aruba’s drinking water is impeccable because of the extensive process from when the water gets pumped out of the salty Caribbean Sea until it comes out of the tap. These steps are:

1. Pump water from the sea
2. Water gets boiled until it vaporizes
3. This vapor condenses into distilled water
4. Distilled water passes through filters of coral beds
5. After coral filter, one last regular final filter
6. Water gets distributed to Aruba

When the water filter process is finished, the salt and excess water, especially for equipment cooling, is later mixed and pumped back to the sea as: salty sea water.

A side note: Aruba is a coral island, so coral is available on the surface without the need to kill any life coral in the water to help this process take place.

The distribution

The distribution of the drinking water leaves the water company generally through underground tubes and pipes towards steel tanks located around the island on higher elevations from where the distribution to the houses take place. The tanks are on higher elevations to guarantee pressurized water out of the tap.

The production output and capacity

What’s the production of the water company?

* The capacity of the plant is 11 million US gallons (41.2 million liters) a day
* The average demand is 9.8 million US gallons (37.1 million liters) a day

Who consumes the 9.8 million US gallons a day?

* 86% by Aruba’s people and visitors
* 11% by Valero Refinery
* 3% by the water company

The average consumption per person per day is 58 US gallons (220 liters).

Disadvantage and alternative

There’s one big disadvantage with this process of purifying water and where the machinery is fueled by gas-oil (diesel). This is a major problem in light of the recent oil price hikes. Plus, what are Aruba’s options on the longer term when there is no more diesel?

Aruban people are proud of their drinking water, but with the recent price hikes in the water bills people are starting to murmur. People are asking for alternatives to the diesel-use in the process. Like stated earlier, the water company invests millions of dollars in new equipment and recent investments are focused on equipment with more efficient consumption of fuel.

In recent publications the water company stated that they are exploring alternatives like wind power as an addition to fuel alone. Aruba has a trade wind with an average of 20 mph (32.2 kph).

Standby for the scans of the water process.