New builds
Water, power and waste: what a new build in Barbados actually needs
People budget for the house and forget the three things that make it habitable. On this island, water storage, the electricity connection and the waste solution can move a budget by a very large amount — and they are decided by your plot, not your taste.
Water: storage is not optional
Mains water in Barbados is generally good, and it is also subject to interruption, particularly in higher parishes and in dry periods. Every sensible house here has storage and a pump. That means:
- A tank, above or below ground. Below ground means excavation — often into rock, which is the expensive part.
- A pump and pressure system, sized for the house.
- Pipework and controls, and somewhere sensible and serviceable to put them.
- Where the roof collects rainwater into the tank, the roof covering, coatings and gutter materials matter — because that becomes water you use.
- A connection application to the water authority, with its own requirements and timing.
Decide tank size and location early. Moving it later means digging twice.
Power: the connection is a project of its own
Getting electricity to a new house is not simply a matter of asking. It involves an application, a supply route, possibly a pole or a transformer, a meter position, and coordination with your electrical installation. On a remote plot, the cost of getting power to the boundary can be a serious line item.
Worth deciding at the same time:
- Solar. Barbados has excellent sun and a mature domestic solar market. Whether or not you install at day one, plan the roof orientation, structure and cable routes so you can, without redoing anything.
- Water heating. Solar water heaters are common here and effective.
- Air conditioning. Where the units go, how condensate drains, and what the cable runs need — decided before the walls are closed, not after.
- Capacity. Size the incoming supply and the board for the house you are going to have in ten years, not the one you are building today.
Waste: this one is decided by your zone
How foul waste is dealt with depends on where your plot sits. Barbados relies heavily on groundwater for drinking water, and the island is zoned for its protection. In some areas a suck-well is acceptable; in others a treatment system is required. There are also areas connected to a sewerage system.
Establish this before you buy the plot, and certainly before you finalise the drawings. A required treatment system changes both the cost and the layout, and it is not something you can design around at the last minute.
Surface water: the fourth one nobody lists
Rainfall here arrives fast and heavy. A new roof is a new catchment area, and that water has to be taken somewhere designed to receive it. Gutters, downpipes, and a soakaway of the right size, with ground shaped to fall away from the building. A large proportion of the damp problems in Barbadian houses are surface water problems that were never designed for.
Sequence: do these first
- Establish the waste solution for your zone.
- Establish where water and power come from and what the connection involves.
- Fix tank size and position, and the pump location.
- Design the surface water drainage as part of the build, not as an afterthought.
- Then design the house around all of that.
Do it in the other order and you will pay to change something.