It is very safe to drink the tap water in Grand Cayman. You can also safely drink the piped tap water in Cayman Brac. Little Cayman does not have a public piped water supply, so check with your accommodation there.

Who supplies the tap water in the Cayman Islands?

There are two piped water companies in Grand Cayman. Cayman Water, a subsidiary of Consolidated Water, supplies the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas (Cayman Water) from three seawater desalination plants (Consolidated Water). Water Authority-Cayman, a government statutory body, supplies most of the rest of Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. It owns five reverse osmosis plants (four in Grand Cayman and one in Cayman Brac), stores the water in 10 reservoirs, and says its water is of a higher standard than the World Health Organisation guidelines for drinking water. Sample taps at each plant are tested daily (Water Authority-Cayman).

Little Cayman is different. The Water Authority does not operate on Little Cayman yet. Residents and businesses rely on rainwater cisterns, three privately operated reverse osmosis plants and a well with water of marginal quality. A pilot well for a future Little Cayman water works was drilled in April 2026 (Water Authority-Cayman). If you are staying on Little Cayman, ask your resort or villa where its drinking water comes from.

How does Grand Cayman produce clean drinking water?

Grand Cayman has seven water treatment plants.

The process of desalination is used to take the sea water and turn it into clean drinking water.

Desalination removes the salt from the sea water, allowing for clean drinking water. Below is a map that shows all of the desalination plants in Grand Cayman:

“Consolidated Water” (through Cayman Water) operates three of these desalination plants, and Water Authority-Cayman operates the other four (Water Authority-Cayman).

They have played a major role in developing Grand Cayman’s booming tourism industry. Without clean and safe tap water, the number of tourist arrivals would be much lower than what it is today.

Do people still drink bottled water in Grand Cayman?

Even though it is 100% safe to drink the tap water in Grand Cayman, many people still opt to drink bottled water.

Companies like “H2Only” and “Flowers Bottled Water” offer bottled water delivery across Grand Cayman. You can also buy bottled water in supermarkets and gas stations across the island.

“Wave Water Cayman” is a company in Grand Cayman that provides water filtering devices to both residential and commercial properties. Many people want to filter their tap water before drinking it, and Wave Water Cayman provides the best solution to filter tap water.

Final thoughts

It is very safe to drink the tap water in Grand Cayman.

You can also drink the piped tap water in Cayman Brac. In Little Cayman, ask your accommodation about its water supply.

However, if you still want to drink bottled water, then there are multiple bottled water delivery services available for both residential and commercial scenarios.

If you are looking for things to do during your vacation, then check out our article where we review the top 25 things to do in Grand Cayman!

Banner photo: Shixart1985 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0.