San Salvador Water Company Emphasizes Recycling and Conservation

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SAN SALVADOR – It may be a small island tucked away in the southern Bahamas, but San Salvador has something many other islands don’t; its own water production plant.

Located in the historic community of Long Bay, Out Island Water is not only helping to address an economic need, but also taking a more sustainable approach to providing bottled water on the island.

Owner Trevor Williams says while the company is still growing, there are no shortcuts when it comes to the production process.

Trevor Williams – Owner, Out Island Water

“First thing, we are 100% off-grid. I think we have the distinction of being one of the only 100% off-grid water operations in The Bahamas. So we have our own power supplies through solar primarily, and we do have a backup generator. So we mine water from the ground, all right, so the water is pulled out of the ground, and we do a process of reverse osmosis to purify water, and we add minerals back to it because, obviously, reverse osmosis strips it down from all the minerals, etc., etc.”

As The Bahamas and other countries around the world look for ways to cut down on plastic waste, Williams says his company is doing its part, not only by focusing on sustainability, but also by supporting the local tourism industry.

Trevor Williams – Owner, Out Island Water

“We carry, obviously, the glass recyclable, which is one of the unique products that we do for Club Med, the local hotel there, and they use that product for the guestrooms. We have a recyclable 16-ounce bottle and a one-litre bottle that we sell them. Once they use a bottle, we bring it back to the factory. We wash, rinse and sanitize them, and refill them, reseal them to ship back to the hotel.”

San Salvador is not the only Family Island producing its own water, with Eleuthera and Exuma just two other examples.

Williams says growing the industry is important because, for the Family Islands, sustainability may very well be key to their survival.

Trevor Williams – Owner, Out Island Water

“It’s huge. We always talk about the Family Islands being so fragile from a nature standpoint. As a matter of fact, you know, a lot of the Family Islands are still doing things like landfills, where they take all the garbage and dump it in landfills, and tons of plastic and waste, sort of thing. So if we can be able to tap into that, I’ll give you an example: just for 2026, for Club Med, we’ve already done close to 100,000 bottles recycled, which would have normally been going in the landfill.”