Desalination on the Galapagos Islands

We were quite surprised by how dry and flat the land is in the Galapagos.  One would expect an island in the pacific to look more like Hawaii than the Atacama desert.  However, due to the Humboldt current, the Galapagos islands can receive as little as 60-100 millimeters of rainfall annually.  When Frey Tomas landed here in the early 1500's he described these islands as "hell" because there was so little water.  Where we began our journey, in San Cristobal, a canal systems was built in the 1800's to irrigate sugar cane crops and in the 1900's these canals were again used to transport water to the U.S army base on Baltra. People living on other islands have always had to rely on rainwater harvesting or brackish water for survival. 

Currently, water from crevices close to the ocean, where sea water and fresh water mix, are being used as island inhabitants and tourists main water source.  This water is collected, purified and desalinated in small, local desalination plants.  I had the opportunity to tour two of these plants.  

I was surprised at the size of these plants.  They are very small; the size of a standard living room at a maximum or as small as a large closet.  These companies take the brackish water, that unfortunately is also highly contaminated from household leakage into the crevices, to treat and desalinate.  Then the water is sold in large jugs or plastic bottles to households, stores, and boat companies.  

Because these plants can be so small, some tourist boats have their own desalination plants on board.  I was not able to see a boat with this technology.  The boat I traveled on used purified water from the second plant I visited.  However, I found that I was surprised at the fact that this technology was so wide spread in such an isolated space.  I also thought of desalination plants like I do water treatment plants.  I suppose they would have to be much bigger if they were supplying water to a larger population but it is interesting to consider possibilities of desalination on a small scale.  

See more pictures here!

For more information about water in the Galapagos, visit this website.