Fresh Drinking Water From The Sea
As mentioned in an earlier post about the rainfall in Aruba, this island is very dry. Rainfall is average 400 millimeters (15.7 inches) per year. Being a volcanic island (meaning: this island came about an underwater volcanic eruption a long time ago) and also a coral island, there is no water source under the ground.
How do you get your fresh drinking water then? That’s right, the title already gave it away: from the sea. The body of water that surrounds Aruba is the very salty Caribbean Sea. This is the source of Aruba’s fresh drinking water. The water is not only used by people to swim in but also to drink.
According to international organizations, Aruba’s drinking water ranks among one of the best in the world. It can easily compete against any fancy brand of bottled water. “Tap water is pure distilled water filtered through a bed of coral rocks where it absorbs important minerals such as calcium, and oxygen,” according to Aruba’s water company’s information site.
How come it is so good? The water company: “The World Health Organization’s standard for dissolved salt is 600 parts per million (ppm). Aruba’s water contains between 5 and 15 ppm of salt which is 40 times better.” Furthermore: “The quantity of bacteria is consistently below detectable levels, in other words, a very high level of purity.”
The core machinery uses fossil fuel, namely gas-oil or better known as diesel. The desalinization process is a very extensive and expensive one. When oil prices keep rising the water bills go up too.
I have an information booklet with drawings on how exactly the purification process works. In a later post I’m going to scan it and publish it for you. Stand by for that.
Now what?
Follow up: Fresh Drinking Water From The Sea
Morgan’s Island Water Park Progress
First Anniversary
[...] distributes is throughout the island. Last year I wrote two articles on the purification process: Fresh Drinking Water From The Sea and a Follow [...]
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