As part of ongoing efforts to resolve chronic water distribution gaps and improve supply reliability for communities across northern Antigua, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) has received official approval to take over four large-scale water storage tanks located on the grounds of the former United States Air Force Base in Coolidge.
The four tanks, which currently fall under the oversight of the Antigua and Barbuda Social Security Board, offer a combined total storage capacity of approximately 2 million gallons, a significant addition to the island’s existing water infrastructure. The acquisition plan was formally announced by Director General of Communications Maurice Merchant during a post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, following a presentation by Public Utilities Minister Melford Nicholas at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting that outlined the urgent need for expanded storage capacity.
Cabinet members voted to approve APUA’s request to acquire the tanks, framing the move as a critical step to address long-standing storage and distribution bottlenecks that have disrupted consistent water access for residential and commercial users across the northern region. Under the planned operational model, desalinated water produced at the Ivan Rodrigues reverse-osmosis facility and the Seven Seas plant at Barnacle Point will be pumped to the Coolidge tanks for intermediate storage before being routed onward to end-user communities.
To date, no final acquisition cost has been disclosed. APUA will enter into direct negotiations with the Social Security Board, which holds legal ownership of the property, to agree on a purchase price. Despite the lack of a finalized cost agreement, Cabinet has formally directed Minister Nicholas and his department to move forward with the process due to the pressing need for additional water storage capacity on the island.
Merchant explained that while Antigua and Barbuda has made substantial progress in expanding desalinated water production over the past decade, the country still faces significant challenges related to storage infrastructure, distribution networks, and aging pipelines that put downward pressure on supply reliability. Data published by APUA earlier this year showed that daily water production on the island peaked at approximately 11 million imperial gallons, up from just 3.5 million gallons in 2014.
However, current production levels have dropped to between 8 million and 9 million imperial gallons per day due to an ongoing severe drought and the complete shutdown of potable water production at Potworks Dam, which has been rendered unusable by dry conditions. The government’s national water strategy prioritizes sustained investment in reverse-osmosis technology, upgraded pumping equipment, expanded storage facilities, and systematic replacement of aging pipelines across the island.
Once the acquisition is finalized, the Coolidge tanks will provide APUA with much-needed additional capacity to store desalinated water before distribution to consumers, helping to smooth out supply fluctuations that often impact northern communities. The government has stated that it will release more detailed information about the acquisition arrangement in the coming weeks, and no official timeline has been set for completing the purchase or bringing the tanks into active operation.