Kralendijk – Bonaire is expanding as a safe destination for visiting yachts and the number of local yachts is growing. Despite this, Bonaire doesn’t have a pump-out facility to collect waste water from yachts. As a consequence, the yacht owners have no alternative than to discharge their wastewater directly into our waters.

Untreated waste water is hazardous to both our people and our wildlife. The waters are used for many recreational purposes by its residents and visitors such as swimming, diving and snorkeling. Therefore, discharging untreated sewage water into the sea around Bonaire is very undesirable. The sea around Bonaire also hosts some of the best kept coral reefs in the Caribbean and they are sensitive to pollution by waste water.

STINAPA, WWF-NL, OLB and WEB have initiated the Marine Waste Water Survey in 2021. Over the last 3 weeks about 70 yachts on Bonaire have been surveyed to learn about the waste water holding tanks these yachts are equipped with, and about the quality and quantity of waste water discharged by yachts. This information is essential in the next steps towards creating a situation with zero waste water disposal.  

We received much support from the yacht owners and everyone was willing to contribute to find the best solution. We would like to give our gratitude to all whom have contributed to this survey. Once the results are finalized, they will be presented to the public along with our recommendations.

For more information, please contact Monique van de Water: mwater@wwf.nl

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