NASSAU, BAHAMAS – The Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) is ramping up its investment in the country’s water infrastructure, with a capital development budget of just over $70 million for 2026 according to its General Manager Robert Deal.
Deal while speaking at The Bahamas Business Outlook conference on Thursday noted that the corporation’s non-revenue water losses already have been reduced since 2013 to-date by more than 61 percent. These efforts have helped increase water sales by 70 percent since that time, turning previous losses into revenue. This was made possible via comprehensive water efficiency project, funded by an Inter-American Development Bank loan involving Miya Bahamas. Deal said that the NRW project is estimated to have saved the corporation $145 million.
Deal noted that WSC is tendering a major non-revenue water project for Abaco, Eleuthera, and Exuma. “We hope to award that contract in the second quarter of this year,” he said, adding that lessons learned from the NRW project on New Providence will being applied across the islands.
“We have had a contract with Miya Bahamas since around 2011. That contract comes to a formal end this December. We are now in the early stages of transitioning to an all-Bahamian team,” Deal explained.
Deal noted that projected water purchases for 2026 are expected to exceed $50 million. “In very short order, WSC will be able to play a major role in helping reduce the cost of water,” Deal said.
Deal also noted that as of 30 September 2025, the government special purpose vehicle WSC DesalCo acquired all of the assets owned by AquaDesign, with whom it had had ongoing challenges which had impacted the supply of water on some islands. AquaDesign had operated seven desalination plants under previous contracts.“Those assets are now government-owned, and we are actively transitioning to a fully Bahamian team,” Deal said.
