Saba celebrated a remarkable moment on Tuesday, November 2, with the official opening of the Saba Splash water bottling plant. At the new plant, 3-gallon and 5-gallon water bottles will be filled, using a state-of-the-art system that produces healthy, safe, and affordable drinking water, providing a basic need for the Saba people. The water bottling plant was constructed with funding from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW).
![](https://www.saba-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/opening-water-bottling-plant_03.jpg)
Photo GIS Saba
The opening of the Saba Splash bottling plant is a “significant milestone,” said Commissioner of Infrastructure and Water Affairs Bruce Zagers in his speech. “Not only does this bring us one step closer to finalizing the initial scope for improving the water quality and quantity for Saba, but it also creates an opportunity for the Saba Government to provide quality drinking water, which is produced locally, at an affordable price for our people.” At the same time, the plant will contribute to Saba’s ambition to be more self-reliant and sustainable.
At the Saba Splash water bottling plant, 160 5-gallon bottles can be filled per hour, and 180 3-gallon bottles per hour, explained plant manager Oscar van der Kaap. But before the actual bottling takes place in a fully-automated, completely hygienic machine, the drinking water goes through an extensive process to make sure that it is safe, healthy, and tasteful.
The water comes up from the reverse osmosis (RO) water plant in Fort Bay, through the pipeline, and goes into a large cistern. From there, the water comes into the building where it first goes through an eco-friendly active carbon filter, then through RO filters, an ultra-violet (UV) light to kill all possible bacteria. At that stage, magnesium and calcium are added, which are beneficial to people’s health and generally don’t exist in other bottled water brands.
Fully automated
The water then goes through an ozonating machine for disinfection without chlorine before it is stored in a large tank from which a sample is taken and sent to a lab in St. Maarten. Once the lab has given the green light, the water batch goes to the machine where the water is put into the bottles.
![](https://www.saba-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/water-bottling-plant-overview-small.jpg)
Photo GIS Saba
Saba Splash is one of the only water bottling plants in the Caribbean that uses an ozonating system and the only one with a fully-automated bottle filling system, explained Van der Kaap.
“The Saba Splash bottling plant has been outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment that cannot be found on our neighboring islands,” said Commissioner Zagers. “We can take pride in knowing that this is our own product made by children of the soil for now and for future generations,” said Van der Kaap in his opening words. Both he and Zagers extensively thanked all persons and stakeholders for “making this dream a reality.”
The Saba Splash Bottling Plant will start with regular sales to the public this month. Through a subsidy granted by the Ministry of IenW, consumers will pay less for their water bottles until July 2022: US $3.50 for a 3-gallon bottle and US $4.50 for a 5-gallon bottle, instead of the regular price of respectively US $6 and US $7.
Vitens Evides International (VEI), a non-profit water consultant from the Netherlands, and its experts were instrumental in the water bottling plant project. VEI became involved in the water project in 2016, and worked in close cooperation with the Ministry of IenW and the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) from the Netherlands.
Good cooperation
“The water bottling plant is the result of good cooperation and teamwork, but also perseverance. Saba Splash will bring you healthy, reliable, and affordable drinking water. But it also suits your ambitions towards self-reliance and increased sustainability,” said Fred Elgers of VEI in his remarks.
“Despite some major hurdles along the way, in particular your recovery from Hurricane Irma and the COVID-19 restrictions, the Public Entity, the contractors, suppliers, Saba Electric Company (SEC), the operational team and VEI did their utmost to end up where we are today,” added Elgers. Water is a basic need and until now Saba didn’t have its own drinking water supply system. Having a steady drinking water system seems logical to many people in the world, but to accomplish this in Saba was a challenge, he said.
With the financial assistance of the Ministry of IenW, the Public Entity Saba already executed several projects to make drinking water and water in general more affordable and accessible. These efforts include the installing of pipelines from the water factory at Fort Bay, through the villages, and the installing of various filling stations in strategic locations, Commissioner Zagers stated in his speech at the opening. The installation of the pipeline and the filling stations has drastically reduced the price of transporting water. Also, multiple cisterns were constructed throughout the island which has resulted in a large increase in the water storage capacity.
Example of progress
The bottling plant is one of the last elements of what has been one of the most successful projects since Saba became a Dutch public entity. Commissioner Zagers referred to the water project as “a real example of progress.” He said that projects like these not only created employment opportunities but also adequately addressed the water shortage problems that Saba has experienced during severe droughts.
“It has significantly improved the availability of good quality, and good tasting, drinking water. Lastly, and more importantly, we have made water, which is a basic necessity, available and more affordable for our people. With this project we already highlight as a success story, where trust, creativity, and flexibility have resulted in the delivery of a product and service that is positively impacting Saba and our people,” Zagers said.
The water bottling plant was opened in the presence of members of the Saba Island Council, representatives of the Ministry of IenW, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK) and invited guests.
Commissioner Bruce Zagers’ speech at the official opening of the Saba Splash water bottling plant
![](https://www.saba-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Bruce-Zagers.jpg)
The opening of the Saba Splash bottling plant is a significant milestone. Not only does this bring us one step closer to finalizing the initial scope for improving the water quality and quantity for Saba, but it also creates an opportunity for the Government of Saba to provide quality drinking water, which is produced locally, at an affordable price for our people.
The water project, which started in 2014, is not limited to the bottling plant that you will get to see this afternoon. This project encompasses a comprehensive approach which has improved the availability of water through increasing storage capacity. It involves installing pipelines from the water factory at Fort Bay, through the villages and installing various filling stations in strategic locations so that the price of transporting water can be significantly reduced. We built multiple cisterns throughout the island so that we could drastically increase our water storage capacity. And, last but not least, the Saba Splash Bottling Plant, which has been outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment that cannot be found on our neighboring islands.
Getting to this point, called for trust, creativity and flexibility, which we have always received from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) from the onset of this program. Directly after the transition, and during a severe drought, I remember that there was a visiting delegation from ILT, the inspectorate for the quality of drinking water. They were here on a mission to see how the inspectorate could control the quality of drinking water on Saba. During this stage it was considered a fact-finding mission that was organized through the RCN which the local government had little knowledge about. However, as Saba is small, the news about this delegation and their work quickly made it to us. There was no scheduled meeting with the Executive Council, but I made it a point to find these guys to give them my perspective.
I kept asking the inspectors one question. How can you control the quality of drinking water when we have none to control? Imagine this, here we are in a severe drought, with one small Reverse Osmosis RO plant at that time which definitely could not keep up with the demand. People were being forced to put grey water in their cisterns because they could not access any other cleaner sources. In a relief effort, the Navy ship Pelikaan was sent to Saba to bring water. Yet, here was a delegation, who were eager to get to work, to solve a quality of drinking water problem on Saba. After a lengthy back and forth, they eventually understood my point and agreed that the availability of water was more important at that time than controlling the quality of it.
The visit of the Pelikaan brought significant political and media attention about our water problems. Within a relatively short period of time, together with the ministry, we developed a plan. A budget was made available so that we could bring structural solutions that would solve the scarcity of water problems that had plagued Saba for as long as I can remember. With this agreement, we also ensured that the quality of drinking water remained relevant but would be addressed as soon as we could ensure that Saba would be better prepared for drought seasons. That is why this bottling plant is one of the last elements of what has been one of the most successful projects since the transition.
As a community, we often don’t recognize or highlight the positive developments that greatly influence our way of life here on Saba. There is a saying that good news doesn’t sell newspapers. In our case, the good news, or the positive developments, doesn’t always rile up the masses on Facebook the same as when something negative happens. The positive significance of this project goes far beyond this bottling plant. Before this project, during severe droughts, there were times that there was no water that could be purchased to put in our cisterns when they went dry. If there was water that could be purchased, it was extremely expensive. Depending on where you lived, the price of one truck load of water could be as high as $160 per load. This is not an exaggeration as those who live close to the airport paid these prices when there was no competition and especially when there was a high demand for the little water that was available. With this project, even during severe droughts we have not experienced a water shortage problem. We have also been able to drastically reduce and regulate the price for trucking of water. Instead of paying prices that ranged anywhere from $80 to $160 per truckload, we now pay $60 per 1,000 gallons delivered anywhere on the island. Before, on average there were only 3 truckers who were involved with the delivery of water. With this project, we now have approximately 8 truckers who can be seen delivering water regularly.
As for the significance of the Saba Splash Bottling plant, we are going beyond providing water in a bottle. We want to change the way you drink water. The Saba Splash water is further processed and each batch is tested by a lab in St. Maarten to secure independent quality assurance. Also, unlike the water that is commonly available in the stores, the Saba Splash water includes minerals which are nonexistent in the other brands as they are completely stripped of all minerals. As for pricing, we have also been able to drastically reduce them. After paying a $7 deposit for the bottle, with a subsidy provided by the Ministry of I&W, we are able to sell this water for $3.50 for a 3-gallon bottle and $4.50 for a 5-gallon bottle. This subsidy will last until July 2022. The price after the subsidy will be $6 for a 3-gallon bottle and $7 for a 5-gallon bottle. For those of you who purchase water from the stores, you can quickly relate to these reduced prices. Similar 5-gallon bottles from abroad are being sold for as high as $22 per bottle, while a case of 1.5-liter bottles range from $12 to $15 per case.
Many have asked why the decision was made to only produce the larger size bottles while we should know that the smaller size bottles are more popular. Although the smaller bottles are more convenient, we cannot ignore the negative impact they have on our environment. The choice to use the larger size, re-useable bottles, will eventually drastically reduce our dependency on these smaller, single use, plastic bottles, which at times end up over our walls, on our shores and continue to be a burden at our landfill. With the single-use plastic ban in place and in its implementation phase, it is only fitting that this project supports such an important initiative which was unanimously approved by our Island Council.
This project is a real example of progress. Projects like these create employment opportunities. It has adequately addressed the shortage of water problems that we have experienced during severe droughts. It has significantly improved the availability of good quality, and good tasting, drinking water. Lastly, and more importantly, we have made water, which is a basic necessity, available and more affordable for our people. With this project we already highlight as a success story, where trust, creativity and flexibility, has resulted in the delivery of a product and service that is positively impacting Saba and our people.
I have to mention a few people who have been instrumental in making this project a success story. Bobby Zagers from the Planning Bureau has been involved in working to solve our water problems well before this project even started. He made this project a priority and continues to play a vital role during these final stages. Sarah van der Horn, who now works at the Ministry of BZK, also played a vital role as the main link, reporting the on-island progress to the ministry while creating the relevant reports needed to justify the spending and progress of the projects. Nicole Johnson took over Sarah’s work and I’m grateful for all that she does. Marjan van Giezen and Luit-Jan Dijkhuis of the Ministry of IenW played a very important role in ensuring that budgets were made available to support our initiatives. Although they no longer work in the water department of IenW, their flexible approach to this project serves as an example to other departments and ministries of how successful projects can be implemented on Saba. I have thank Bart and Fred, who are here today, from Vitens Evides International VEI. Your support and passion for this project is greatly appreciated. I hope that you are as proud as I am with the end result that we are celebrating today. Last but certainly not least, the 3 gentlemen, Oscar, Shannon and Justin, who have been busy in the Saba Splash bottling plant for the past months. Thank you for your efforts in getting the system fully operational and I trust that you will continue being passionate about the quality service and product you are producing for our community. I must also recognize Zakiyah, Trevon and Kaziah, who came up with the name Saba Splash and the artwork which complements the name.
GIS Saba
Where will these water jug be purchased? Will they be available at the grocery store or will there be a delivery system put in place?
Congratulations. I think it’s important for Saba to have it’s own water bottle plant. So that it could become more independent for the consumers.
Drank some of the water on Saturday, tasted great! I’m never going back to store bought water.
Looks like I’m going back to store bought water since it’s not possible to purchase Saba Splash water as yet.
How are we able to order bottles? Nowhere do I see a way to contact Saba Splash and request bottles.