In December 2017, the news agency Xinhua reported on a seawater desalination plant in its trial phase about 20 kilometres from Santiago de Cuba. The 20 million US dollar plant at Cabanas Cove was funded by the Cuban government and built with Italian technology. Four wells 16 to 18 metres deep draw seawater, which is treated by filtration and reverse osmosis. At 50 litres per second it was to supply some 34,000 residents; the brine is discharged about 620 metres offshore.
The report shows how Cuba responded to recurring drought with reverse osmosis: one of the region's reservoirs was nearly empty, and some parts of the city had at times received water only every 22 days.
Source: Xinhua