Tucked away in the Bahamas, this private enclave offers exactly what you’d expect from a luxury island escape: turquoise waters, pristine beaches, and elegant, island-inspired homes. But underground, beneath its world-class golf courses, a silent crisis was unfolding. The resort’s water system was hemorrhaging so badly it threatened to bring paradise to a halt.
Their storage tanks had dropped to 20%. The high season was approaching. And somewhere in the 10 kilometers of pipe running beneath the property, water losses were outpacing production.
The challenge: A crisis beneath the surface
With tanks dropping and no clear answers, the resort called in GEM Water, a company that focuses on a holistic approach to water loss, combining traditional acoustic leak detection with advanced monitoring technology. The company’s CEO, Mario Tavera, had seen plenty of struggling systems. But when he arrived on site, the scope of the Abaco Club’s problem became clear immediately.
The system was broken in multiple ways:
—Staggering water losses: Non-revenue water (NRW) was estimated at a massive 65%.
—Missing data: Like many small utilities, they had no GIS map; they didn’t even know where their mains or valves were located.
—High-pressure demands: To deliver 65 PSI to guests, they were essentially forcing water out of every weak point in the 10km network.
In the Caribbean, where water comes from energy-intensive desalination, every lost gallon hits twice—once in wasted water, once in wasted energy. The resort was losing water, which meant they’d keep losing money every single day until something changed.
And the holiday rush was coming.
They were desperate because they were about to enter the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday… the tanks were at 20%, Mario recalls. “We just arrived on time.”
Qatium and GEM Water: The genesis of a strategic partnership
Mario knew finding leaks wouldn’t be enough. The resort needed a system they could actually manage, one that would show them where water was going, where it was being lost, and how to stop it from happening again.
GEM Water partnered with Qatium to build that infrastructure. For Mario, Qatium provides the digital backbone his startup needs; a platform that lets him visualize and monitor distribution systems. For a startup like GEM Water, partnering with an international technology leader also strengthens its proposals with a multi-partnership solution.
The solution: Building the resort’s “digital backbone”
Mario wanted to fundamentally change how the resort managed water in the long term. With Qatium, he built the digital infrastructure needed to regain control of its resources.
1. Mapping from scratch
Since there was no existing data, GEM Water built a GIS framework from the ground up using open-source tools, which were then integrated into the Qatium platform.
The GIS is the physical design of the system… the more precise the GIS, the better the [hydraulic] model can perform.”
2. Hybrid intelligence
The team combined acoustic pinpointing with AI-powered sensors and Qatium’s visualization. This allowed them to see not just where the water was going, but how the system responded to changes in real-time.
3. Strategic isolation
GEM WATER now uses the digital twin to identify where new valves are needed. Currently, a single leak could force a total system shutdown, but with new strategic placements, the resort can isolate problem areas without disrupting guests.
The results: From critical lows to 90% tank capacity
Within one month of surveying and repairs, the numbers flipped:
—Tank recovery: Storage levels climbed from 20% to 90%, just in time for the holiday rush.
—Unprecedented efficiency: Water production dropped to levels the resort hadn’t seen in years
—Ambitious targets: The team set an ambitious target: cut non-revenue water from 65% down to at least 30% by the end of phase one in March.e customer problems.
Reducing losses isn’t just about finding leaks… it implies a holistic approach to improve in every sector.”
The blueprint for small utilities
This isn’t a massive municipal utility, it’s a resort with 10 kilometers of pipe. But that’s exactly the point. Digitalization isn’t just for “big” cities. Even a small resort with no existing data can build a sophisticated digital twin.
In other words: you can start with nothing and still transform how you manage water.
For Mario, the partnership with Qatium means his startup can compete on projects that would otherwise be out of reach. For the resort, it means their most expensive resource—desalinated water—finally reaches the tap instead of the ground.
Tackle water challenges together: Partner with Qatium
GEM Water showed what’s possible when you combine field expertise with the right digital infrastructure.
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