ALICE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 30, 2025--
Seven Seas Water Group (“SSWG”), a multinational provider of Water-as-a-Service® (“WaaS®”) solutions, in partnership with the City of Alice, proudly commemorated the official launch of Texas’ first public-private brackish water reverse osmosis desalination facility. The “First Water Celebration”, held on July 29, 2025, marked a historic moment for the city as the plant delivers a drought-resilient source of clean, safe, and potable water to local residents.
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The event brought together elected officials and community stakeholders to celebrate a groundbreaking advancement in sustainable water infrastructure. The milestone represents a powerful step forward in addressing regional water scarcity through innovation and collaboration.
This facility, when delivering at full capacity, will provide up to 2.7 million gallons per day of high-quality drinking water, significantly enhancing water security in a region impacted by prolonged drought. Supported by the Texas Water Development Board, the project exemplifies a forward-thinking solution that can be replicated across other communities facing similar environmental challenges.
"This project in Alice represents a blueprint for how communities can take control of their water future,” said Henry Charrabé, CEO of Seven Seas Water Group. “By transforming brackish groundwater into a safe and reliable source of drinking water, we’re helping cities build resilience and independence in the face of growing water challenges. We’re incredibly proud to see this plant already delivering real results and benefits to the local population. We extend our sincere thanks to the team at the City of Alice, local leaders, the Texas Water Development Board, and every partner, engineer, and team member who brought this vision to life."
The new plant harnesses cutting-edge reverse osmosis technology to provide a long-term, environmentally responsible solution to water scarcity. As the first public-private partnership of its kind in Texas focused on brackish water treatment, the project introduces the state to the benefits of the Water-as-a-Service® model, which enables rapid deployment of water infrastructure without requiring upfront capital.
“This facility marks a significant leap forward for our city,” said Michael Esparza, City Manager of Alice. “It’s more than infrastructure—it’s a promise to our community that we are investing in a secure, sustainable future. By leveraging advanced desalination technology and trusted partnerships, we are strengthening our resilience, protecting public health, and enabling long-term economic growth. This success is the result of visionary collaboration, and we are proud to stand alongside Seven Seas Water Group and the Texas Water Development Board in leading this charge.”
The Alice Brackish Water Desalination Plant stands as a scalable model for future water solutions across Texas and the nation. With demand for reliable water infrastructure growing, public-private partnerships like this one will be essential to safeguarding communities in the face of climate uncertainty and resource constraints.
About Seven Seas Water Group
Headquartered in Tampa, with operations across the U.S., Caribbean, and Latin America, Seven Seas Water Group (SSWG) delivers annually over 20 billion gallons of water to industrial, commercial, governmental, municipal, and hospitality customers. SSWG designs, builds, owns and operates, delivers new facilities, or acquires and upgrades existing facilities, with the goal of optimizing project risk transfer between the public and private sectors. With an outstanding reputation for decentralized water and wastewater treatment solutions, the SSWG “Water-as-a-Service®” approach seeks to help solve global water and wastewater infrastructure challenges.
From left to right: SSWG CEO Henry Charrabé, Mayor Cynthia Carrasco, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Molina, Councilmember Sandra Bowen, Councilmember Pete Beltran, Councilmember Mauricio R Garza II, City Manager Michael Esparza, Public Works Director of Utilities Demetrio Duarte.
BERLIN (AP) — Europeans were reeling Sunday from U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that eight countries will face 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland.
The responses to Trump's decision on Saturday ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”
Trump's threat sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Trump's announcement came Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders were wrapping up a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading, according to a European diplomat who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and the Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."
Trump's move also was panned domestically.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Norway and the U.K. are not part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.
António Costa, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, pledged to continue their full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they wrote in a joint statement late Saturday.
The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.
Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”
The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. She said the deployment was not a move against U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.
Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”
Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.
“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.
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Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
