When an existing thermal desalination plant failed, an emergency supply of drinking water was needed as soon as possible

When an old, inefficient thermal desalination plant broke down on St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), the VI National Guard was able to quickly provide eight desalination units to alleviate the most acute impacts of the crisis. The 320,000 GPD (1,208 m³/d) of drinking water they provided, however, was only a fraction of the 1.8 MGD (6,813 m³/d) needed to supply businesses, 5,500 residents, and hundreds of thousands of tourists.

In response, the VI Water and Power Authority (WAPA) reached out to Seven Seas Water Group to bring life and business on the island back to normal before the peak of the tourist season.

Seven Seas quickly set a two-phase installation in motion. The first phase was operational only 29 days from the finalization of contracts. Only 19 days after that, the complete plant, comprised of eight containerized units, was supplying the 2 MGD (7,570m³/d) of drinking water that WAPA had specified. Empty WAPA storage tanks began to fill, leaving the island free of water worries in peak tourist season.

At no upfront cost, a build-own-operate (BOO) arrangement was able to provide reliable water at a guaranteed price. The temporary containerized plant helped supply critical water to VI residents and tourists until the permanent SWRO facility was complete. The new Seven Seas facility now produces all the drinking water in St. Thomas as well as the high-purity process water required to operate their power plant.