Inside the desalination plant in Paraquita Bay, three students cooled off under the air conditioning as they sipped some of the freshest water in the territory.
Primary schoolers Daria Donovan and Brielle Williams and high schooler Zara Pascoe had been recognised the previous week for submitting outstanding projects involving water to the National Science Fair.
For their efforts, they were granted temporary leave from their studies Friday to tour the desalination plant by invitation from operator Seven Seas Water Group.
The tour
Starting just outside a cinderblock structure, Plant Manager Kevon Smith, himself a past winner of the territory’s science fair, warned the girls not to lean over the railing once inside.
It was a 30-foot drop to the intake pipes below, he explained.
Inside, Mr. Smith shouted over the din of the pumps that the water follows gravity along a central pipe that sticks out a half-mile into the Sir Francis Drake Channel.
“The water is clean there,” he said. “[The intake pipes are] about 30 feet below sea level.”
Moving back into the sunlight, he walked the students from the intake station to the nearby desalination plant.
There, Mr. Smith held up a section of what looked like a five-foot-long cylindrical ball of twine.
“It’s called a spiral-wound twine cartridge filter,” he said, adding, “The twine is made and spun in such a pattern that it only allows a particular particle size through.”
After a few more steps, Mr. Smith said, the water is tested and sent to the top of Sabbath Hill, where the Water and Sewerage Department takes full responsibility for distributing it to the public.
After the tour, the two younger students, who attend Ebenezer Thomas Primary School, were awarded $100 for their science fair projects, and Ms. Pascoe, who attends Cedar International School’s secondary division, received $250.
Though Seven Seas has contributed more than $22,500 to help sponsor three science fairs since the 2017 hurricanes, this year was the first time it provided monetary awards to students to recognise them for successful “water science projects,” according to Noni Georges, the company’s community relations advisor.
Ministerial visit
Before the students’ visit to the plant, Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie de Castro took a tour as well, according to Seven Seas.
“When our students explore real-world challenges — like water quality and sustainability — they aren’t just learning: They’re leading,” Ms. de Castro said in a press release from the company. “They are demonstrating the brilliance, potential and promise that exist within our classrooms.”
