Bermuda?s worst drought in 50 years last summer served to hammer home the message that water remains an increasingly precious resource ? even for a tiny Island surrounded by ocean.

With a booming economy and rising population putting increasingly greater strain on an already stretched system, reporter found out how experts plan to meet this spiralling demand...

The 2005 drought exposed the limitations of Bermuda?s water supply system. Most residents rely almost entirely on rainfall to fill up their home tanks. But when the skies go dry, people have to look elsewhere for scarce supplies.

That?s when places like Government?s water plant at Prospect become the firm focus of attention. They fill pipes and send truckers rumbling out laden with treated supplies on a daily basis, by draining water from about 300 wells scattered across various locations on the Island.

Prospect is equipped to churn out 500,000 gallons each day, and acts as a main supply for some major businesses and as a vital top-up for many residents, particularly in times of drought.

Another Government site near the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute has a similar half-million capacity; while three smaller public stations operate in the West End and St. George?s.

But despite this daily one million gallon-plus output, strict water limits are in place to preserve long-term well supplies ? spelling problems in times of drought.

Rain may be falling freely so far this summer, but last year saw Prospect in demand... and at full stretch.

?In a drought people want as much as they can get,? explains Steve McMinn, principal engineer at Works and Engineering.

?Anecdotally, truckers were telling us that they could take twice as much as we could give them, but they are restricted because of our limited supply,? he explained, referring to the restriction limits in place to preserve Bermuda?s wells.

He added: ?It did not really rain for 55 days and tanks were low everywhere on the Island. We were able to produce about the same amount of water as normal.

?But tanks were empty and people needed more so it was quite difficult to meet that kind of demand with our restrictions. Even during the drought we had to stick to the same levels.?

That?s when it appears that alternative water sources started to be seriously considered.

Added Mr. McMinn: ?The quality of water provided is extremely high ? but it?s just not enough. We can?t produce any more water than we are producing at the moment.

?We have to go to the ocean to meet the growth in demand.?

Even with a private water company also operating at full capacity, restriction issues appear to have trained Government minds on the future ? and how the sea surrounding Bermuda can help ease summer shortages.

Sea water reverse osmosis plants don?t come cheap, costing upwards of $5 million to build.

But officials hope Government?s first large-capacity plant on the Island ? near Tynes Bay ? will be up and running by next fall.

A large private ocean osmosis plant is already operating and many guest houses and hotels have already taken advantage of the Island?s location and of new scientific breakthroughs.

The new Government site, however, will be able to churn out 500,000 gallons of drinking water each day, expandable to one million.

And this time it will be the unlimited supply of ocean that is the source, rather than hundreds of wells with tight abstraction restrictions.

They are in place because taking too much out at of a well in a short space of time damages the fragile eco-system and means less fresh and more salty sea water will fill them. The process is part of a delicate balancing act with mother nature; water will get saltier if the limits are ignored.

During a tour of the Prospect plant last week, treatment supervisor Donald Daniels explained how the technical process of salt removal ? through something called reverse osmosis ? is more costly and time consuming than treating fresher water.

The water expert described osmosis as a natural process where fresh water moves into saltwater. Reverse osmosis is not a natural process, he added, and hi-tech equipment is needed to pump out the fresh water from saltwater.

More electricity is also needed to drive the higher pressure that forces the salty water through a membrane, leaving the salt on it, as the treated water passes through ? ?reversing? the osmosis process.

With that explanation under its belt, donned a hard hat and entered the hot, noisy, pipe-laden engine room of the treatment HQ.

Mr. Daniels told us how brackish, salty water and fresh water pulled from the Island?s two types of wells is pumped into the plant. They go through two separate processes ? before meeting again at the end.

Bits of sand, trees and other tiny particles are removed before the water is treated and cleaned with chemicals, he explained.

Only brackish water goes through the reverse osmosis cycle, said Mr. Daniels, because of its high salt levels.

Both types of water then meet again in a large completion tank and eventually head out into offices and houses mainly via the pipe supply system and also to waiting water trucks.

The technology used to remove the salt from ocean water is essentially the same as used in the current well water cleansing process.

But because there is much more salt in the sea than in water taken from wells, far higher pressure is needed to extract the salt ?so more advanced, and more expensive equipment is required.

Critics might ask why it has taken so long for sea-locked Bermuda to wake up to the benefits of embracing this technology and using the sea to supply more drinking water.

Experts say they assume last year?s drought accelerated the process. The fact the Island?s population had continued to grow has also played a part.

More seawater reverse osmosis plants could be built to meet demand, officials told us, although costs linked to increased electricity supply needs will mean that expansion into this new area of technology will have its boundaries.

?Ten years ago sea water plants were much more expensive,? said Mr. McMinn. ?But as technology improves, the cost is coming down dramatically.

?In years to come, more and more people will be drinking treated sea water.?

Well supplies are a finite resource and the quality of water could deteriorate in years to come, he later added, although this situation could improve if the wells are not used as much and get rest periods as newer ocean-based plants start taking more of the strain.

As well as the new 500,000 ocean osmosis plant at Tynes Bay, a smaller model at the former ZFB site is due to start operating this October. This will just serve truckers, not the general public, and will produce 115,000 gallons each day.

Last summer, workers at the Prospect water plant could have been forgiven for taking time out from the treatment process, stepping outside and performing short rain dances in the hope of triggering a few much-needed downpours.

Such tactics have not been needed this summer, with recorded rainfall about average for the year.

Experts say ?regular? rain, not intense deluges, means less demand from homes to top up tanks. ?I love to hear the sound of an overflowing tank,? admitted Mr. McMinn.

But it only takes a few barren weeks to dry up those tanks and jog the memories of Bermuda residents about the scarcity of water ? and to remind Government why turning to the ocean is such a badly needed first step into a brave new world of water supply.