In November 2018, the utility Jersey Water began preparing its desalination plant for operation, BBC News reported. Island reservoirs were 46 per cent full, compared with 71 per cent a year earlier. Between May and October 2018, Jersey recorded 227 mm of rain, against 485 mm in 2017. The island last produced drinking water from seawater in October 2011. Jersey Water supplies 38,000 homes and businesses.
The report shows desalination used as a dry-year reserve: the plant stood idle for seven years and was only readied again once rain failed and the island's reservoirs fell.
Source: BBC News