Water Infrastructure

The desalination plant and water network require substantial upgrades to continue providing adequate water services for visitors, residents, and island businesses.

The project has two key components:

• Desalination Plant Upgrade: Installation of a new 1,000 m³/day modular desalination plant (expandable to 1,500 m³/day) to replace the aging production system meet forecast water demands.
• Water Distribution Network Upgrade: Partial replacement of the island’s aging water network with new pipes and pumps, including creation of a ring main system.

Construction of the desalination plant commenced in February 2026 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. Works on the water distribution network upgrade are scheduled to commence later in 2026.

The Northern Service Corridor is an alignment of buried infrastructure that includes water, communications and power.

Water and power infrastructure works optimally when reticulated in loops, as this provides electrical and hydraulic redundancy. The northern service corridor will complete the northern arm of the ‘ring main’.

The location was determined following extensive consultation with stakeholders across several years. The main factors affecting the choice of location were protection of environmental and cultural heritage, as well as constructability and engineering viability.

Construction works are projected to take up to four months to complete, commencing in June 2026 and concluding in September 2026.