Custom-made equipment produced abroad reinforces one of the most strategic systems of Fernando de Noronha, where the transformation of Atlantic water sustains a large part of the supply and depends on a technical operation capable of facing logistical limitations that are not very visible to visitors.

In March 2025, Fernando de Noronha began to rely on reserve equipment custom-made in Denmark, acquired to protect the operation of the plant that transforms Atlantic Ocean water into potable water and sustains an essential part of the archipelago’s routine.

To enhance the system’s security, the Pernambuco Sanitation Company, Compesa, invested R$ 1.5 million in the purchase of two motor pump sets, intended for the desalination plant responsible for 65% of all water distributed on the island.

Located 545 kilometers from Recife, the structure serves residents, public services, hotels, inns, restaurants, and other activities that depend on regular supply, even in a territory surrounded by the ocean and with limited availability of natural freshwater sources.

According to Compesa, the desalination plant operates at a total capacity of 20 liters per second, a volume that can reach approximately 1.728 million liters in 24 hours when the system functions continuously within its nominal capacity.

Danish pumps enhance the island’s water security

Designed to act as a technical reserve for the main equipment, the new sets can be activated during an emergency maintenance, preventing the company from having to wait for new manufacturing, the import process, and transportation to Fernando de Noronha.

This quicker response reduces the supply’s vulnerability to mechanical failures, especially because the desalination plant concentrates the largest portion of the water consumed in the archipelago and depends on components that are not easily replaced in the Brazilian market.

Unlike conventional pumps, the equipment installed in the system follows the technical specifications of the Danish manufacturer and was custom-made to meet the pressure, flow, and compatibility requirements present in the reverse osmosis operation.

For this reason, a failure can trigger a complex logistical challenge, as the replacement needs to be manufactured abroad, imported to Brazil, transported to Pernambuco, and sent to the island territory before reaching the operational unit.

By keeping spare parts on the island itself, Compesa reduces exposure to prolonged delays and can replace critical parts more quickly, preserving the continuity of an essential service for the population and local economic activities.

Reverse osmosis requires constant pressure to remove salt

Inside the plant, the pumps provide the necessary pressure to push seawater through the membranes used in reverse osmosis, a technology responsible for separating most of the salts and other substances present in the captured liquid.

Without adequate pressurization, the unit cannot maintain the flow required to produce water within standards intended for human consumption, because the entire process depends on the force applied to overcome the natural resistance of the membranes.

After entering the system, the saltwater undergoes treatment stages before proceeding to the supply network, while the membranes allow water to pass through and retain most of the dissolved salts in the original flow.

In this process, the stability of the pumps directly influences production, as any interruption in pressure compromises the sequence of capture, filtration, salt separation, and routing of treated water to reservoirs and distribution.

Desalinator provides most of Noronha’s water

The dependence on desalination is linked to the restricted availability of fresh water in Fernando de Noronha, where production obtained from the ocean accounts for 65% of the supply, according to data released by Compesa.

The rest of the supply is supplemented by water captured in the Xaréu Dam, treated at the local station, and by artesian wells integrated into the system, forming a network that combines different sources to meet the archipelago’s demand.

With a capacity of 20 liters per second, the current plant has become almost five times larger than the previous structure, according to the company, and has assumed an even more relevant role in the island’s water security.

The expansion was part of a package of R$ 22 million in investments in the supply of Fernando de Noronha, allowing an increase in the participation of desalinated water and reducing pressure on the natural sources available in the island territory.

Even surrounded by the Atlantic, the island cannot directly use the water around its coastline, as the concentration of salts requires continuous treatment through pumps, membranes, pipelines, pressure controls, and quality procedures.

This contrast between the visual abundance of the ocean and the scarcity of water suitable for consumption helps explain why desalination infrastructure has become strategic for maintaining the daily operation of services, residences, and tourist enterprises.

Technical reserve reduces the risk of interruptions

The investment of R$ 1.5 million was not allocated to the construction of a new plant, but to creating an additional layer of protection for the existing plant, reducing the risk of shutdowns caused by the absence of specific components.

Whenever maintenance is needed, a reserve set can replace the main equipment, allowing repairs to occur without leaving production dependent on the immediate arrival of a new part manufactured outside the country.

The decision also considers the transportation difficulties to Fernando de Noronha, where heavy and specialized materials do not arrive with the same ease found in cities connected by highways and continental logistics networks, especially in urgent situations.

To reach the Compesa unit in Boldró, each piece of equipment requires shipment planning, compatibility with available means of transport, and coordination between different stages, from departure from the continent to delivery in the archipelago.

One of the sets was received directly at this unit, while the second followed the process of moving between the continent and the island, expanding the system’s contingency capacity for situations that require quick replacement of critical components.

Custom-made equipment meets the plant’s requirements

The specific manufacturing demonstrates how desalination systems depend on parts adjusted to the characteristics of each installation, including working pressure, flow rate, compatibility with membranes, and resistance to the saline environment present in the plant’s daily operation.

Because they do not necessarily meet these requirements, a general-use pump cannot automatically replace the installed equipment, even when it has dimensions or power similar to those used in the Fernando de Noronha plant.

In addition to the daily volume produced, the stability of the supply depends on the continuity of all technical stages, as a failure in a single component can affect the capture, pressurization, and routing of treated water throughout the island.

In this scenario, the technical reserve functions as protection against prolonged interruptions and allows the company to organize repairs on the removed set without leaving the system dependent on the timeline of a new international order from abroad.

Compesa classifies the motor pumps as critical elements for the water reliability of the archipelago, precisely because most of the distributed water depends on the coordinated operation of these devices with the other structures of the unit.

Behind the internationally known beaches, a high-pressure operation works continuously to remove salt from the water, while pumps produced thousands of kilometers away remain available to replace the main equipment when needed.

In a territory surrounded by water but dependent on imported machines to make it drinkable, how much is it worth to prevent a single technical failure from interrupting the supply to an entire island during a maintenance emergency in the system?