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Our speaker last week was Past President Bryan Russell from The Rotary Club of South East Nassau. He spoke about the history of water development in the Bahamas. PP Bryan described how water is more precious than gold, oil or any other commodity. He described how we as humans can go without food for weeks, but we cannot go without water for more than a few days because the body will start to decline and go into shock. Every living thing, business and commodity at some point along the line requires water. There are 1.8 billion people on the planet living in areas with water scarcity and in some estimates by 2050 up to 50% of the world's population may be in areas with water scarcity.
PP Bryan also gave us a history of water production in the Bahamas from when desalination was first started in the country. He then gave a history of water being supplied to homes in the Bahamas. PP Bryan spoke about when The Water and Sewerage company used to be supplied with a large amount of the water they provided to households from a barge that collected the water on Andros and brought it over to New Providence. Consolidated water, the company where PP Bryan was General Manager until he retired started providing The Water and Sewerage Company with water and provides millions of gallons daily. The water is of a very high quality and many improvements have been made and continue to be made to ensure the safety and purity of water being provided to consumers.
