SEAWATER SOLUTION

AS Jamaicans confront the recurrent threat of drought, worsened by the El Niño weather phenomenon, a renewed proposal to convert seawater into potable supplies has received mixed reactions from specialists who see potential in desalination but question whether it is a practical solution at scale, given its operating cost and heavy reliance on energy.

The issue was raised during a webinar hosted by the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) last Wednesday. Duane Rowe, the OUR’s director of regulation, policy, monitoring and enforcement, argued that desalination could be an option to settle some of the island’s water challenges.

Rowe noted that, having lived and worked in the Middle East for 15 years, he saw how that region — which lacks significant ground and surface water reserves — depends on desalination for much of its domestic and industrial water usage.