A quarter century of desalination at IOT |20 February 2026

A technician adjusts a desalination plant at IOT

A quarter century of desalination at IOT

By Sunny Esparon

In 1999 the Indian Ocean Tuna factory installed desalination plants to meet the cannery’s water needs. At that time, Indian Ocean Tuna (IOT) contracted with the BWT Water Technology company to supply and operate the plants on a Build-Own-Operate basis.

The use of desalination at the cannery has resulted in important benefits to both IOT and Seychelles. The benefit to the country is that the use of desalination by IOT reduced its dependence on the public water supply. The primary benefit to the cannery is that it has a continuous water source, not subject to restrictions or rationing, and the water produced by the plants is of a very consistent, nearly pure, quality. In addition to desalination, the cannery has reduced its water requirements significantly through process optimisation.

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