Reverse osmosis is the method applied in this plant. Operation of such a system requires pressures in excess of the “osmotic pressure” of the water to be desalinated. In the desalination process, the seawater is pumped under high pressure through a membrane. While part of the water penetrates the membrane and is removed downstream as desalinated water (permeate), the salt remains in the fluid (brine) upstream of the membrane.

Once completed, by September 2007, the “potable water plant” will produce around eight million liters of water a day. To make the pumps cope with the highly aggressive seawater, they will be made from corrosion-resistant stainless steel, i.e. Super Duplex. Both the American office, KSB Inc. and the Brazilian office, KSB Bombas Hidráulicas, worked together to achieve success for the KSB Group.

Aruba is one of the islands commonly referred to as the “ABC” islands and located in the Southern Caribbean, just about 25 kilometers north of the coast of Venezuela. In 1986, Aruba became a separate part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with its own constitution and government.