(From left) Ritz-Carlton Assistant Golf Course Superintendent Dade Wilson, Energy Reduction Manager Eric Mildenberger, and Golf Course Superintendent Clay Batson.  Photo by Steven Knipp.

By Steven Knipp
steve@caymannetnews.com 

A decade ago, a senior British engineer who had been based in the Middle East for 20 years, made a chilling statement to journalists travelling with him.

“If you think that in future people will be fighting over oil,” he said, “just wait till we all start running short of water.”

Today most of the world’s focus is on the soaring price of petroleum. But some leading scientists believe that continued climate change and the planet’s growing population will eventually make the price of water of far greater concern.

So what are we in Cayman, a community with limited natural water resources, doing to conserve the already costly water that we all use every day?

The answer, simply put, is not enough.

To its credit however, the private sector appears to be far ahead of the government in preparing for the future, both by conserving precious water, and in the equally crucial issue of recycling the resource for secondary non-drinking purposes.

The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, has a well-developed water conservation policy already in place. All the condensation water from the resort’s hundreds of air conditioners is saved and pumped back into their cooling system.

In addition, Eric Mildenberger, resort’s Energy Reduction Manager, told Cayman Net News, “All the waste water from the hotel’s laundry department goes through a treatment process and is recycled.”

And even the rainwater, which pours down on the roof of one of its two towers, is collected and recycled for secondary uses.

Mr Mildenberger noted that recycling water is not only good for the environment, it also makes sound economic sense, especially over the long term.

In the resort’s 365 rooms, special low-flow shower heads and sink aerators, help reduce splash and thus save water. The resort’s Blue Tip golf course also has a water treatment system, which desalinates brackish water for potable water and irrigation needs.

The Dart group, which employs some 600, routinely recycles the rainwater at their sprawling 500-acre construction site at Camana Bay.

Communications Relations Manager Susanna Blackburn explained: “We have a 190,000- gallon (cistern) tank by the cinema and another 40,000-gallon tank on Nexus Way. The rainwater that is collected in these is then used for irrigation.”

“Regarding ‘grey water’ (water recycled from the work site) specifically, this is still a work in progress,” she added. “We have been working with the Water Authority, and are putting in place the infrastructure for a grey water pipeline.  We are also in the process of conducting studies into how grey water can be used in residential neighbourhoods as we are now moving into the design phase for the first homes at Camana Bay.”

Butterfield Bank’s new headquarters, Butterfield Place, is the first commercial building in Cayman to have its own dedicated wastewater treatment plant. Beneath the building is a 9,200-gallon water treatment tank, which effectively makes the entire complex totally self-sufficient.

But the private sector recycling drive is by no means confined to only the largest companies. The Cayman Islands Brewery’s state-of-the-art wastewater system is so cost-efficient that the beer-maker recently gave a presentation in Belize to the Caribbean Breweries Association, where every brewer in the Caribbean was made aware of cost saving potential.

Though most of Cayman is too porous to build more than the one reservoir already here, there are areas in East End where it may well be feasible, according to some water experts.

The government, however, seems focused on taking water from the sea, with six desalination plants on Cayman and a seventh under construction.

The process, however, is considered one of the most expensive ways of obtaining fresh water, because it requires great amounts of electricity and so is usually used in conjunction with comprehensive water conservation measures.

While the Cayman Government actively promotes the recycling of various materials, such as aluminum cans, used motor oil and batteries, there seems to be no firm long-term policy on water recycling or storage in reservoirs.

Stefan Baraud, chairman of the George Town United Democratic Party Committee, said the Government needs to step up.

“We should really be doing a lot more with our water; at the very least we need to better manage standing water which is mostly wasted. We need to do far better with storm water management as well,” he said.

“There are retention ponds in Florida, which has a similar landscape as Cayman. These have two benefits; firstly they allow the water to be re-used for other purposes. And secondly, they very effectively collect any run-offs coming from homes or offices and so prevent flooding.

“There is no reason why this can not be done, we just seem to lack the political will to do it,” Mr Baraud added.

In an emailed statement, in response to a query from Cayman Net News, Dr. Gina Ebanks-Petrie, director of the Department of the Environment (DoE), said, “While the DoE is deeply concerned about the management and conservation of the islands’ water resources, local jurisdiction for these matters falls to the Water Authority under the Water Authority Law. Policies on the construction of (new) reservoirs on the island, and the reintroduction of the use of cisterns would naturally fall to the Ministry with responsibility for the Water Authority, with input from agencies like the DoE and the Department of Environ-mental Health.

“From the perspective of sustainable development, the DoE does promote recycling/reuse of water and catchment of rain water for non-potable use in all the development applications that we review.”
In 2002, the Water Authority built a new wastewater treatment plant, replacing the old waste ponds, which were near capacity. This plant can be expanded to ultimately treat 10 million US gallons per day, as needed by Cayman’s growing population Repeated attempts were made to contact Dr. Gelia Frederick-van Genderen, Director of the Water Authority, on the possibility of reintroducing cisterns on a large scale, or building a major reservoir, but she was unavailable at press time.