Dutch and French firms are delivering emergency mobile desalination units to the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
The Dutch-French territory’s desalination facilities shut down when hurricane Irma hit its power network on 6 September 2017. Since then, islanders have been drinking trucked and bottled water, and water direct from reservoirs.
Dutch Water Partners and Hatenboer Water airlifted three mobile reverse osmosis desalination plants to Saint Martin: two RO Oceanus units with capacity of 24 m3/d, and an RO Proteus at 70 m3/d.
Meanwhile Veolia has delivered a mobile desalination plant to Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French island of Guadeloupe about 300 kilometres away. The unit will continue by barge to Saint Martin and is expected to be operational by 25 September 2017.