St. Kitts groundwater well in Saddlers to produce 500,000 gallons daily

St. Kitts and Nevis: A newly drilled groundwater well in Saddlers could produce nearly 500,000 gallons of water per day. The discovery was announced on Friday, August 21, under the island’s Groundwater Drilling Programme. The new well is expected to improve water supplies in Saddlers, Harris’ Village, Lavington, Belle Vue and nearby communities.

Under this programme, the Saddlers site was the first location that was drilled and has already produced positive results. During the initial testing, the well produced about 175 US gallons per minute. This is three times more than the roughly 50 gallons per minute that was produced by the existing source in the area.

The site was drilled approximately 640 feet deep as the water table was found at around 500 feet. Now, further testing is going on to ensure that the water can be drawn out safely. It will also determine the amount of water that can be drawn from the well consistently.

St. Kitts is consistently working towards addressing the problems in water supply. This EC$28 million groundwater programme was designed to recognise and develop new underground water sources across the island.

After the airborne surveys and hydrogeological assessments that found 17 potential drilling locations, the Saddlers site was identified as one of the 17 locations.

This discovery was described as “another major milestone” by Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew in a social media post. He said this is a major achievement in the effort to provide reliable 24-hour water across St. Kitts.

For families who have lived for years with interruptions in their water supply, this is what progress looks like, Drew wrote.

He also confirmed that drilling has now moved to Newton Ground. The second well has reached about 108 feet. It is expected that the drilling at that location could continue to a depth of between 500 and 600 feet.

Other locations that are being considered under the programme are Black Rocks, Parsons Ground, Tabernacle, Sandy Point, St. Paul’s, Brimstone Hill, Old Road, Molineaux, Stone Fort, Challengers and Cayon.

The Basseterre Desalination Plant began its operations in February 2026 and has already added up to two million gallons of water per day. This has helped in improving the supply of water in the country.

With the development of new wells, the government is also going to install other infrastructural facilities like pipelines, electricity connections, pump houses and additional storage.

The drilling programme is going to continue for about 18 months, depending on underground conditions. Officials said that the aim is to achieve 99.9 percent 24-hour water service coverage across St. Kitts.

The Saddlers discovery has proved to be a significant development in increasing the water supply for the communities that have faced continued interruptions.