Is Grand Turk’s Water Woes Finally Ending? Budget 2025 Promises Bold Solutions

Deandrea Hamilton

Editor

Turks and Caicos, May 23, 2025 – For over a decade, successive administrations have struggled to bring reliable, sustainable water service to the capital. Chronic outages, aging infrastructure, and public frustration have defined the Water Undertaking Department’s legacy. But in his 2025/2026 Budget Address, Minister of Public Safety and Utilities, Otis Morris, says this time, change is not only coming—it’s already underway.

“This is not optional,” Minister Morris declared in the House of Assembly. “In a nation as vulnerable to climate variability as ours, building a strong, smart, and sustainable water system is an imperative.”

The Minister revealed a record $2.8 million budget allocation for the Water Undertaking Department, aimed squarely at modernizing water production and delivery in Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and South Caicos. Central to this effort is the commissioning of a one-million-gallon-per-day Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plant, tripling Grand Turk’s production capacity from 550,000 to 1.55 million gallons per day.

“This is a transformative milestone,” said Morris, “ensuring water sufficiency for homes, businesses, health facilities, and tourism establishments.”

But residents of Grand Turk have heard promises before. What sets this plan apart?                                                                                                                                                                      For one, the Minister points to tangible progress. Over the past year, the department has rolled out smart water meters, launched a cloud-based billing system, and installed two massive one-million-gallon storage tanks. These upgrades already support better conservation and real-time monitoring, reducing system losses and improving efficiency.                                                                                                                                        Additionally, the Department is implementing Water Loss and Non-Revenue Management software—a long-awaited step to plug fiscal and physical leaks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The financial relief has also been significant. In December 2024, the government wrote off over $1.5 million in outstanding water bills and penalties for residents and businesses in Grand Turk, Salt Cay, and South Caicos. The initiative, combined with a 90-day billing moratorium that ended in March 2025, was part of a broader customer reset to restore trust in the system.

A third-party review by KM Advisors and a technical assessment by Provo Water Company have also been commissioned to identify operational inefficiencies. According to Morris, these external partnerships will “propose solutions to longstanding issues” and build resilience across the network.

Critically, the department has also enhanced its emergency response capacity. After a major disruption in November 2024, water service was restored following repairs at the RO Plant. The government now says its new infrastructure investments will prevent such outages from recurring.

Still, skepticism lingers. Residents are cautious, recalling years of patchwork fixes and incomplete reforms. “We’ve heard it before,” one Grand Turk resident told Magnetic Media. “But if they really finish this RO plant and keep the pressure stable, then maybe—just maybe—we’ll believe it.”

So, is this finally the end of Grand Turk’s water crisis?

Minister Morris believes so. “We are not just delivering water,” he said. “We are securing the future of these islands.”

Only time—and consistent water pressure—will tell if that promise holds.