Plans to use desalination plant under way

Preparations to start using a desalination plant that turns sea water into drinking water are under way as dry weather continues.

The plant at Corbiere helps during dry spells, with Jersey's reservoirs holding a maximum of a 120 days' worth of water.

Mark Bowden, head of resilience and emergency planning, said the plant was used as a "back up" when the company was concerned about reservoir levels: "It's a bit like a lifeboat that we use as in emergency situations."

He added residents needed to take care of their water use and could save some by making small changes, such as taking shorter showers, running dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads and fixing drips.

He said the utility aimed to run the plant, described as the "rain maker", in August.

"We operate the desalination plant on controlled curves through the course of year, so we expect our reservoirs to be lower in the summer," Bowden said.

"We're currently monitoring the trajectory and the rate of fall, and we're expecting to start that at one point in the coming month."

Jersey recorded its wettest month on record in February after consistent rainfall, and its warmest June since records began in 1894, with some days reaching above 30C (86F).

Bowden said the island was "some way off" a hose pipe ban as the plant and reservoirs was about 73% full on storage, which was not a "bad position to be in at the beginning of August", adding he was confident the island would get through the summer months.

He added: "The challenge for us is if we face a two-year drought... If we have a really dry winter off the back of a dry summer, then we'll run into difficulties."

"The lowest point of the year is typically around October for our reservoir levels, so we expect to see them to continue to drop, but we will need that autumn and winter rainfall.

"We can't rely on that. It might not come. So we all need to do our bit and save water now."

Bowden said, after its recent water resource and drought management plan, where staff looked at long-term options, the company found the best decision was to increase the output of the plant by 50% to make it "more reliable".

He said the cost of the expansion was between £20m to £25m at present but was aware construction costs could increase.

Other options were also considered, such as a new reservoir, but Bowden said it could cost the company "hundreds of millions of pounds", as well as time.

Clarification 06 August 2026: The original text did not make clear that the reservoirs provide the equivalent of 120 days' water supply when full, and that this figure does not include output from the desalination plant. It also did not explain that planned upgrades would increase the plant's output by 50%, rather than expand the physical size of the site. These clarifications have now been made.

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