GREAT BAY, St Elizabeth — With many Jamaicans utilising rivers, streams, and any available water source for their domestic needs after Hurricane Melissa, Mission Mules, a Christian non-profit disaster response organisation, has deployed a reverse osmosis machine to purify water here.

Within hours of the machine being operational on Sunday, residents of Great Bay near Treasure Beach in southern St Elizabeth were being supplied with thousands of gallons of water from a pond in the community.

The pond, created from flooding in the area, has become what some describe as a solution for the water crisis in the community, as a generator at a nearby water pumping station was damaged during the passing of the Category 5 hurricane almost two weeks ago, leaving them without water supply.

John Wright from Katadyn, a company based in Petaluma, California, known for providing simple solutions for safe drinking water, said he partnered with Mission Mules and Orphan Grain Train, another Christian volunteer network.

“My company is Katadyn, we make the technology and my friend deploys it. We are using the water [pond]. The water goes into here; the dirty water. We pump it out and it goes to here, the reverse osmosis machine, it purifies the water and it comes out here,” he said, illustrating the purification process to the Jamaica Observer.

The reverse osmosis machine is used to fill bags containing two and a half gallons of water each cycle, and one machine is able to purify about 4,000 gallons of the precious commodity per day.

“We are filling these bags with clean [water], two-and-a half gallons of water. We are giving it away to the community. Some of the mains are up, but only two of them are up in this [area], so many people, especially closer to the [sea], have no water access here,” Wright told the Observer.

He explained that the high-pressure reverse osmosis membranes in the machine are essential to the process.

“It reverses water through the membranes. They reverse salt, viruses, biologicals, contaminants, and [outlets] purified water,” he said.

Within an hour a team of volunteers in Great Bay was able to purify just over 100 gallons of water.

“We have some friends in the community who have helped us to identify the need and to identify a point where we can use to make water. We have volunteers who have helped us within this community. These are all locals who have joined us to share the labour to make this possible,” said Wright.

Mike Toberer, president and founder of Mission Mules and a representative of Orphan Grain Train, explained that the concept originated in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The Category 4 storm caused severe damage and deaths across the south-eastern United States in September 2024.

“This machine [purifies] just over 4,000 gallons a day. It will take salt water, dirty water, and clean it. The water authority here needs to have maybe six to eight of them around the island, so when it happens again you can start pumping water immediately,” said Toberer.

He is suggesting that, in preparing for hurricanes, the Jamaican Government can equip themselves with the osmosis machines for deployment to hard-hit areas.

“When a hurricane is coming then they can start deploying them out to different areas, and then when it happens people will be trained and they can set them up and pump thousands of gallons per day,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sandy Tatham, a proprietor of Blue Marlin Villas in Great Bay, said she assisted in getting the organisations into the area.

“We are running a local relief fund with MycoMeditations and contact was made with these folks who were able to pull water from the pond and purify it to a drinkable rate. Likewise, they can take salt water from the ocean and desalinate it,” she said.

She further explained the water crisis facing residents.

“So we are in a situation where Treasure Beach has got back water from the main [pipeline], but we have not. The generator that operates our pump station was flooded and was not able to be fixed as yet, so now we have found an alternative,” she said.

“We are going to be putting the word out so that people can bring their drums [to be] filled. We don’t know how long we will run it for, because the pond is very large. People don’t realise how big the pond is back here. Providing that we can retain the equipment, we can run it for a month; for a good while hopefully,” she added.

And residents of Great Bay and adjoining communities welcomed the initiative, with Hanif Forrest saying out of a problem of flooding came a solution.

“We are at a pumping station recycling some water for distribution in Great Bay and other places. It is very essential because there isn’t any water in the line, no [water] truck [operating], so people can get to bathe, wash, drink, cook, do whatsoever they want to do,” he said.

“We were here pumping away some of the water, so that people can get [out] of their houses and get their lives back together. We pumped thousands of gallons from Tuesday… Out of all evil you have to have a good, so this a good move. People use this water for many purposes, including farming. We just want to get rid of the water,” he added.

Arden Ebanks, a farmer from the adjoining community of Flagaman, shared similar sentiments.

“[It is] a very good initiative. I am going to distribute [the bags of water]. I am taking them to give out. There are some people who really need the water,” he said.

Likewise, Kirk Wright, a farmer in the area, was grateful to have access to the water.

“Up at the end of the Great Bay Road I have a little plot, so I need to water to wet it,” he said. “It is a great [initiatives, because people’s [houses] are affected. The water can now flow to the sea. It is a wonderful gesture.“

From left, Mike Toberer, president and founder of Mission Mules; John Wright from Katadyn; and Sandy Tatham, a proprietor of Blue Marlin Villas in Great Bay, beside a reverse osmosis machine in Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth on Sunday. Garfield Robinson

Hanif Forrest (left), a resident of Great Bay, and John Wright from Katadyn, load bags of water into a pick up truck in Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth on Sunday. Garfield Robinson

Water surrounds this house in Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth on Sunday. Garfield Robinson

This little boy jumps over the waste water released by the reverse osmosis machine in Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth on Sunday. Garfield Robinson

A resident removes a bag filled with water from a pick-up in Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth on Sunday. Garfield Robinson

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Kirk Wright, a farmer of Great Bay near Treasure Beach in St Elizabeth, loading a portable tank with waste water from the reverse osmosis machine in the community on Sunday. Garfield Robinson