- Mykonos prepares for another high-demand tourist season and moves to purchase 290,000 m³ of desalinated water.
- A new unit in Ano Mera will produce 2,000 m³/day for eight months starting May 2026.
- The cost reaches €539,400, including full operation and maintenance by the contractor.
- Desalination remains expensive and resource-intensive, especially when atmospheric water generation — viable in Mykonos’ year-round humidity — remains underused.
- Tourist infrastructure relies on reliable water flow for pools, spas, cleaning, dining, and luxury services.
- Long-term water strategy is still the island’s unresolved challenge.
Mykonos heads into another tourist year facing the same persistent pressure: an island designed for a winter population suddenly becomes a megacity every summer. When visitor numbers multiply, so does water demand — and the existing network struggles to keep up.
Seasonality, large hotel complexes, high-intensity water services (from infinity pools to daily laundry cycles), and dense construction create a consumption spike far beyond the capacity of the winter system.
In this landscape, Mykonos once again turns to the most immediate — though not the most sustainable — solution: buying more desalinated water.
The New Contract: 290,000 m³ of Water and a Race Against the Clock
The municipality has approved a contract for the procurement of 290,000 cubic meters of desalinated water, equivalent to a stable output of 2,000 m³ per day over an eight-month period.
Highlights of the project:
- Location: Ano Mera, next to the local pumping station
- Production deadline: Water must begin flowing by May 1, 2026, right before peak season
- Integration: The unit feeds directly into the main network for immediate use
The timeline is tight — and intentionally so. Mykonos cannot afford a single day of hesitation when May arrives.
Cost, Operation, and the “Water as a Service” Model
The contract’s financial value is €539,400, covering all production, operations, monitoring, and maintenance.
The contractor handles everything, allowing the municipality to boost supply without adding permanent staff or investing in long-term infrastructure.
This “water as a service” arrangement is common on Greek islands with intense seasonality.
It allows:
- rapid deployment,
- flexible capacity,
- minimal municipal responsibility for technical management.
But it also locks islands into a costly, repetitive cycle: buying water every year instead of building smarter systems.
Why Desalination Again — and Why It Isn’t Always the Smart Choice
Mykonos already operates desalination units, but summer demand routinely surpasses available production levels. Even small variations in output can cause:
- local shortages
- pressure drops
- operational problems in hotels and villas
- strain on food service and cleaning systems
So desalination is treated as an insurance policy.
However — and this is where the policy becomes questionable — desalination is expensive and energetically wasteful, especially on an island with high humidity year-round.
Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) — or “water from air” technology — can extract drinking water from humidity with:
- far lower energy cost,
- almost zero environmental impact,
- modular scalability,
- and 24/7 operation.
Mykonos has:
- humid nights,
- sea breezes,
- constant evaporation cycles,
- microclimates rich in airborne moisture.
In simple terms, Mykonos already sits on an invisible reservoir in the air, and yet chooses one of the most expensive water-production methods available.
Desalination solves the immediate problem but sidesteps the conversation about smarter, greener, cheaper long-term alternatives.
Why Stable Water Flow Matters in a Luxury Destination
For a destination that brands itself globally, consistent water supply becomes part of the hospitality promise. Tourists do not experience water as a utility — they experience it as comfort.
A shortage can interrupt:
- pool operations
- wellness facilities
- hotel cleaning cycles
- restaurant services
- outdoor cooling systems
- staff accommodation needs
In luxury markets, reliability is everything.
A single large hotel can consume the daily water of an entire winter village.
For hoteliers, stable water is infrastructure security. For Mykonos, it is the backbone of its premium tourism model.
The Long Game: What Mykonos Still Needs
The new desalination unit covers immediate needs, but it does not address the island’s deeper challenge: building a water system that reflects the real scale of modern Mykonos.
Long-term water resilience depends on:
- expansion and modernization of the main network
- integration of atmospheric water generation systems
- optimized storage and distribution
- management of unregistered consumption
- protection of natural resources
- realistic planning for the island’s carrying capacity
Short-term desalination is a bandage. Sustainable, diversified water sourcing is the cure.
