St. Thomas Emergency Water Project

Degeneration of the entire thermal desalination system caused critical water shortages on St. Thomas. The ensuing catastrophic water restrictions affected all areas of the community including homes, businesses, local restaurants, medical facilities and tourism during peak season. BAL CONSTRUCTIONS was contracted to install three rapid-deployment osmosis systems with a goal to produce 750,000 gallons of emergency potable water by Christmas.

The BAL CONSTRUCTIONS team was challenged with a very limited footprint in which to land containers, equipment and material. Through diligence, perseverance, innovation, constructive imagination, and long hours, the final piece of almost 2,000 linear feet of pipe was installed on December 20 and EXCEL achieved “Water by Christmas” after only 8 work days.

BAL CONSTRUCTIONS mobilized additional teams to continue deploying additional osmosis systems and piping until achieving the island’s required production of 2 million gallons per day. As a demonstration of our commitment to safety and quality, our crews successfully performed all the work without any safety incidents nor a single leak in the several thousand feet of piping installed. During the three phases of this project, EXCEL raised the bar in rapid deployment of desalination technology. Seven Seas Water Corporation subsequently signed BAL CONSTRUCTIONS for continuing scopes of work on related matters in St. Thomas and are discussing similar and future projects in St. Croix.