Barbados to construct $220m Water Reclamation Plant to treat wastewater 

Barbados is all set to construct Climate Resilient South Coast Water Reclamation Plant with a cost of $220 million. After breaking ground for the plant, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley outlined its benefits and noted that this will serve as one of the “most advanced tertiary treatment plants of its type in Barbados and in the Caribbean as a whole.”

The project is expected to support 150 to 200 small farmers with improved pipelines that will be extended around 25km from the South Coast to Saint Philip. The plant will be used to treat wastewater with the help of modern processes, advanced tertiary methods, aiming to meet the needs of decades. The methods include ultraviolet disinfection, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis.

PM Mottley noted that the reclaimed water produced at the plant meets international standards for irrigation and groundwater recharge. The finances of the project will be managed from the Barbados Debt from Climate Swap through the Global Climate Fund and the inter-American Development Bank.

The plant is expected to be completed by 2032 and once completed, it will enhance the water situation in the country and support in several sectors, specifically the agricultural sector. The five-year project is also expected to free Barbados from any further debt and PM Mottley said that Barbados Water Authority will benefit from millions of dollars.

Talking about the local people, PM Mottley emphasized that the plant would not have any cost to the country, enhancing the opportunities of jobs and other for the younger generation. In addition, the Water Authority of Barbados received $40 million in grant money to increase the climate resilience of the country.

The plant is also expected to bring engineers, policymakers, farmers and citizens together in a shared vision to safeguard water for all. It will modernise sewage treatment facilities to a tertiary level plant, making water a valuable resource.