A NEW desalination plant – possibly on the east coast – is one long-term option being considered by Jersey Water to safeguard future supplies.
Helier Smith, the firm’s chief executive, said increasing the ability to produce drinking water through desalination formed a key part in plans to bolster reserves amid a growing population and warming climate.
His comments follow predictions that Jersey could face water shortages by 2045 if nothing is done.
With one of the driest summers on record continuing and the first hosepipe ban for 19 years coming into force today, Mr Smith said: ‘We either need more desalination, additional reservoir storage or to recycle water coming out of the Bellozanne treatment works, or perhaps a mixture of all three.
‘If there was to be a new desalination plant the optimal location would be on the east coast so it could feed Queen’s Valley reservoir.’
Mr Smith said the current desalination plant at Corbière was providing up to half of the Island’s current water needs, having been brought into operation at the start of August. It costs £8,000 a day to run and could be running until October, although Mr Smith said the costs might have dropped now it was up and running.
Potential solutions that could form part of the company’s next Water Resources Management Plan, due to be published in 2024/25, include consideration for a new reservoir or the possibility of upgrading the treatment for the six million litres of effluent currently discharged into the sea every day.
Mr Smith added: ‘We need to keep all our cards on the table – the lessons from Queen’s Valley are that it took 20 years from the first stages of planning to opening.’
Preliminary discussions with government ahead of the plan due in two to three years’ time had started, Mr Smith said.
‘We’ve had an introductory meeting with the new Environment Minister and he’s very keen to get this under way – the process has just started and we need to determine its scope,’ he said.
Jersey Water’s three pronged strategy for dealing with the current situation includes:
– Upping capacity at the existing desalination plant from the current level of 10.8 million litres per day to 15–16m. Jersey Water’s engineering team is currently working on this project, with a view to drawing up a detailed design and seeking planning approval ahead of a possible completion date of 2025 or 2026.
– Moves to encourage Islanders to use water more efficiently will continue, with a range of tips and methods to cut consumption.
– Leakage reduction remains a priority for the company. Significant progress has already been made in this area, Mr Smith said, with investment by the company resulting in leakage rates of just under 10% of daily demand, compared with an average UK figure of approximately 20%. Mr Smith cited the best rates globally as around 5%.
Investment by the company had helped reduce the Island’s water usage to around 22.5m litres per day during recent hot weather, Mr Smith said. This compared with a figure of 25m in 2003, the time of the previous hosepipe ban, he added, even though the population of Jersey had increased by around 10% over the past two decades.
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