The Bent Page

Aruba’s drinking water is produced by a desalinization plant co-located with the electricity plant in an area known as Balashi. Since Aruba is a desert island, this facility became a necessity once the population grew beyond a certain point. You’ll still see old Cunucu houses with a rooftop collection system that gathered rain water and stored it in a cistern. There are also a few brackish wells left, but used only for small scale irrigation. Thus, water is a precious resource in this environment, and metered and invoiced accordingly. The drinking water in Aruba is completely pure and delicious thanks to the way it is produced. There is absolutely no need to buy bottled drinking water here. That which comes from the tap is fine.

Here’s a photo of a domestic water meter, the one at my home.

Exciting stuff, eh? It can be if you’re not careful. Notice the valve located on the right side. It features a hasp-like function so that you can place a lock on it in the “closed” position. Whenever I leave the island, I lock this meter in the closed position. It’s not that I’m worried about someone stealing the water. It prevents an unexpected leak from spinning the meter for days on end until my pal checks the house or I return. This happened to another friend of mine and he was stuck with a water bill in excess of US$3,000.

So, a word to the wise. If you own a home in Aruba, or are considering it, don’t forget small but important things like this. Inspect the plumbing systems from the meter all the way to the drains and septic. It’s not thrilling stuff like the wind surfing, bar hopping, and shopping, but it will put a damper on your good times if you’re not careful.

Okay, in the next post we’ll take a look at the bathroom I rebuilt, which is a little more interesting than the old water meter.