A desalination plant producing 600 cubic metres of water a day opened at Kampos on Patmos on 20 October 2026, Greece’s Ministry of Environment and Energy said. On neighbouring Leros, the ministry is funding a €5.3 million water system.
The ministry paid for the Patmos plant. Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastavrou attended the opening with Petros Varelidis, the ministry’s Secretary General for Natural Environment and Water. The ministry said further funding is being arranged for more desalination to meet summer demand and for sewerage networks in the Kampos and Grikos areas.
On Leros, the funded system has a capacity of 3,000 cubic metres a day and includes a 17 km water pipeline. The ministry’s release gives no completion date. A separate €4.7 million landfill and biological waste treatment unit, funded by the EU-backed ESPA programme, is under way on the island.
The minister also said an island decarbonisation fund will provide €2.3 billion for energy storage, grid interconnections, renewable energy and electric mobility on the islands. The bill setting up the fund is in public consultation until 24 October 2026, as covered in our report on the €2.3 billion island fund.
What it means for buyers
Water supply in summer is a practical issue on small Aegean islands, where demand peaks with visitors. The new plant improves supply security on Patmos, but the ministry itself says more capacity is being arranged for summer demand in parts of the island. Connection to mains water and to sewerage varies from property to property and is recorded by the municipality.
What happens next
The ministry has not published timetables for the extra Patmos desalination or the Leros water system. The island fund depends on the energy bill, which has not yet been passed by Parliament.
