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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☒ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020

☐TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transaction period from __________________ to __________________

Commission File Number: 0-25248

CONSOLIDATED WATER CO. LTD.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

incorporation or organization)

Regatta Office Park

Windward Three, 4th Floor, West Bay Road

Grand Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman Islands N/A

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (345) 945-4277

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class: Trading Symbol Name of each exchange on which registered

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ◻No⌧

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ◻No⌧

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes⌧ No ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Sec. 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes⌧ No ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No ⌧

The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing sales price for the registrant’s common shares, as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on June 30, 2020, was $207,036,890.

As of March 26, 2021, 15,169,687 shares of the registrant’s common shares were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:

Portions of the registrant’s Proxy Statement related to its 2021 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting will be subsequently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Description Page

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 3

PART I 4

Item 1. Business 4

Item 1A. Risk Factors 16

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 23

Item 2. Properties 23

Item 3. Legal Proceedings 24

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure 27

PART II 27

Item 6. Selected Financial Data 28

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure about Market Risk 41

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 42

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 82

PART III 84

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 84

Item 11. Executive Compensation 84

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services 84

PART IV 85

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules 85

SIGNATURES 90

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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our future revenues, future plans, objectives, expectations and events, assumptions and estimates. Forward-looking statements can be identified by use of the words or phrases “will,” “will likely result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “estimate,” “project,” “potential,” “believe,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” or similar expressions and variations of such words. Statements that are not historical facts are based on our current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates, forecasts and projections for our business and the industry and markets related to our business.

The forward-looking statements contained in this report are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. Important factors which may affect these actual outcomes and results include, without limitation:

●tourism and weather conditions in the areas we serve;

●the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic;

●the economic, political and social stability of each country in which we conduct or plan to conduct business;

●our relationships with the government entities and other customers we serve;

●regulatory matters, including resolution of the negotiations for the renewal of our retail license on Grand Cayman;

●our ability to successfully enter new markets; and

●other factors, including those “Risk Factors” set forth under Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report.

The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report speak as of its date. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this Annual Report to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based, except as may be required by law.

References herein to “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer to Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

Note Regarding Currency and Exchange Rates

Unless otherwise indicated, all references to “$” or “US$” are to United States dollars.

The exchange rate for conversion of Cayman Island dollars (CI$) into US$, as determined by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, has been fixed since April 1974 at US$1.20 per CI$1.00.

The exchange rate for conversion of Bahamas dollars (B$) into US$, as determined by the Central Bank of The Bahamas, has been fixed since 1973 at US$1.00 per B$1.00.

The official currency of the British Virgin Islands is the US$.

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

Through our subsidiaries and affiliate, we provide the following services to our customers in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, the United States and British Virgin Islands:

Bulk Water Operations. We produce potable water from seawater utilizing reverse osmosis technology and supply this water to government-owned distributors in the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas. In 2020, our bulk water operations generated approximately 33% of our consolidated revenue.

As of December 31, 2020, the number of water production and water treatment plants we and our affiliate operated in each country, and the production capacities of these plants, were as follows:

Water Production Plant Location Plants Capacity(1)

Cayman Islands 7 9.9

British Virgin Islands 2 0.8

(1) In millions of gallons per day.

Water Treatment Plant Location Plants Capacity(1)

(1) In estimated millions of gallons per day.

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Strategy

We are a multifaceted water solutions company that serves a variety of customers through multiple product and service offerings. Presently, we:

● provide water-related management and consulting services.

We expect to continue to expand and diversify our products, services and markets to meet the ever-expanding global demand for water.

Key elements of our strategy include:

Market expansion. We continue to seek to expand our existing operations in the markets we believe have significant unfulfilled demands for desalinated potable water, water treatment and reuse systems and our other products and services. These markets include the Caribbean and the United States. We may also pursue business in other markets where we believe we can be successful.

Complementary products, services and businesses. We continue to aggressively pursue acquisitions or joint ventures that (i) complement and enhance our existing businesses; (ii) expand our product and service offerings and markets; and (iv) support our objective to be a multi-faceted water solution provider.

Our Company

We conduct our operations in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, the United States, and the British Virgin Islands through our subsidiaries and our affiliate. Our corporate organizational structure is as follows.

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Retail Segment

Cayman Water Company Limited (“Cayman Water”). Cayman Water operates under an exclusive retail license granted by the Cayman Islands government to provide water to customers within a prescribed service area on Grand Cayman that includes the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas, two of the three most populated areas in the Cayman Islands. Cayman Water owns and operates four seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants. Cayman Water and the Water Authority-Cayman (“WAC”) (which is owned by the government) are Grand Cayman’s only water utilities.

Aquilex, Inc. (“Aquilex”). Aquilex, a U.S. company, provides financial, engineering, information technology, administrative and supply chain management support services to our subsidiaries and affiliate. We include Aquilex in our retail segment for financial segment reporting purposes; however, it provides services to all four of our business segments.

Bulk Segment

Consolidated Water (Bahamas) Limited (“CW-Bahamas”). We own 90.9% of CW-Bahamas, which provides bulk water under long-term contracts to the Water and Sewerage Corporation of The Bahamas (“WSC”), a government agency. CW-Bahamas owns and operates our largest desalination plant and one other desalination plant.

Ocean Conversion (Cayman) Limited (“OC-Cayman”). OC-Cayman provides bulk water under long-term contracts to the WAC, a government-owned utility and regulatory agency, which distributes the water to properties located outside our exclusive retail license service area on Grand Cayman. OC-Cayman built, sold and operates three seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants owned by the WAC.

Services Segment

DesalCo Limited (“DesalCo”). A Cayman Islands company, DesalCo provides design, management, engineering and construction services for desalination projects as well as management and engineering services relating to municipal water distribution and treatment.

PERC Water Corporation (“PERC”). On October 24, 2019, we purchased, through our wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Consolidated Water U.S. Holdings, Inc. (“CW-Holdings”), 51% of the equity in PERC, a U.S. company headquartered in Fountain Valley, California. PERC develops, builds, sells, operates and manages water, wastewater and water reuse infrastructure. In August 2020, we purchased an additional 10% ownership interest of PERC, increasing our ownership of this subsidiary to 61%.

Manufacturing Segment

Aerex Industries, Inc. (“Aerex”). In 2016, we purchased, through CW-Holdings, 51% of the equity in Aerex, a U.S. company located in Fort Pierce, Florida. Aerex is an original equipment manufacturer of a wide range of specialized and custom products and systems applicable to desalination, municipal water treatment and industrial water and wastewater treatment. Aerex’s products include reverse osmosis desalination equipment, membrane separation equipment, filtration equipment, piping systems, vessels and custom fabricated components. Aerex also offers engineering, design, consulting, inspection, training and equipment maintenance services to its customers. In January 2020, we acquired the remaining 49% equity interest in Aerex for $8.5 million.

Affiliate

Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. (“OC-BVI”). We own 50% of the voting stock of OC-BVI, a British Virgin Islands company, which sells bulk water to the Government of the British Virgin Islands Water and Sewerage Department. We own an overall 43.53% equity interest in OC-BVI’s profits and certain profit-sharing rights that raise our effective interest in OC-BVI’s profits to approximately 45%. OC-BVI also pays our subsidiary, DesalCo Limited, fees for certain engineering and administrative services. We account for our investment in OC-BVI under the equity method of accounting.

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Discontinued Operations

Mexico project development

Consolidated Water Cooperatief, U.A. (“CW-Cooperatief”), N.S.C. Agua, S.A. de C.V. (“NSC”) and Aguas de Rosarito S.A.P.I. de C.V. (“AdR”). CW-Cooperatief is a wholly-owned Netherlands subsidiary incorporated in 2010. CW-Cooperatief owns 99.9% of NSC, a Mexican company. NSC was formed to pursue a project encompassing the design, construction, ownership and operation of a 100 million gallon per day seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant which was to be located in northern Baja California, Mexico and accompanying pipeline to deliver water to the Mexican potable water system (the “Project”).

On August 22, 2016, the Public Private Partnership Agreement for the Project (the “APP Contract”) was executed between AdR, the Comisión Estatal del Agua de Baja California (“CEA”), the Government of Baja California as represented by the Secretary of Planning and Finance and the Public Utilities Commission of Tijuana (“CESPT”).

On June 29, 2020, the Director General of CEA and the Director General of CESPT terminated the APP Contract. As a result of the cancellation of the APP Contract, we discontinued all development activities associated with the Project and commenced active marketing efforts to sell the land NSC purchased for the Project. Accordingly, the assets and liabilities of CW-Cooperatief, NSC and AdR, as well as all Project development expenses and the impairment loss these subsidiaries incurred, have been reclassified from the services segment to discontinued operations in the accompanying consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2020.

CW-Belize

As of and through December 31, 2018, we sold bulk water in Belize through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Consolidated Water Belize Ltd. (“CW-Belize”), which is the exclusive provider of water in Ambergris Caye to Belize Water Services Ltd. (“BWSL”), a government-controlled entity which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties. BWSL distributes water primarily to residential properties, small hotels, and businesses that serve the tourist market. CW-Belize was included in our bulk segment.

In February 2019, we completed the sale (which was effective as of January 1, 2019) of CW-Belize to BWSL. See further discussion of this sale at Note 8 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements at ITEM 8 of this Annual Report.

Our Operations

For fiscal year 2020, our retail water, bulk water, services and manufacturing segments generated approximately 32%, 33%, 18% and 17%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue. For additional information about our business segments and geographical information about our operating revenue and long-lived assets, see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements at ITEM 8 of this Annual Report.

Retail Water Operations

For fiscal years 2020 and 2019, our retail water operations accounted for approximately 32%, and 38%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue. This business produces and supplies water to end-users, including residential, commercial and government customers in the Cayman Islands.

Retail Operations in the Cayman Islands

We sell water through our retail operations under a license issued in July 1990 by the Cayman Islands government (the “1990 license”) that granted Cayman Water the exclusive right to provide potable water to customers within its licensed service area. Although the 1990 license was not expressly extended after January 2018, we continue to supply water under the terms of the 1990 license, as further discussed in the following paragraph. Pursuant to the 1990 license, Cayman Water has the exclusive right to produce potable water and distribute it by pipeline to its licensed service area, which consists of two of the three most populated areas of Grand Cayman: Seven Mile Beach and West Bay.

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The 1990 license was originally scheduled to expire in July 2010 but was extended several times by the Cayman Islands government in order to provide the parties with additional time to negotiate the terms of a new license agreement. The most recent express extension of the license expired on January 31, 2018. We continue to operate under the terms of the 1990 license, providing water services to the level and quality specified in the 1990 license and in accordance with our understanding of its legal obligations, treating those obligations set forth in the 1990 license as operative notwithstanding the expiration of the express extension. We continue to pay the royalty required under the 1990 license.

In October 2016, the Government of the Cayman Islands passed legislation which created a new utilities regulation and competition office (“OfReg”). OfReg is an independent and accountable regulatory body with a view of protecting the rights of consumers, encouraging affordable utility services and promoting competition. OfReg, which began operations in January 2017, has the ability to supervise, monitor and regulate multiple utility undertakings and markets. Supplemental legislation was passed by the Government of the Cayman Islands in April 2017, which transferred responsibility for economic regulation of the water utility sector and the negotiations with us for a new retail license from the WAC to OfReg in May 2017. We began license negotiations with OfReg in July 2017 and such negotiations are ongoing. We have been informed during our retail license negotiations, both by OfReg and its predecessor in these negotiations, that the Cayman Islands government seeks to restructure the terms of our license in a manner that could significantly reduce the operating income and cash flows we have historically generated from our retail license.

See also ITEM 1.A. RISK FACTORS and ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS - Material Commitments, Expenditures and Contingencies - Cayman Water Retail License.

Our retail operations in the Cayman Islands produce potable water at four seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants in Grand Cayman located at our Abel Castillo Water Works (“ACWW”), Britannia and West Bay sites. We own the land for our ACWW and West Bay plants and have entered into a lease for the land for our Britannia plant that expires January 1, 2027. The current aggregate production capacity of the two plants located at ACWW is 3.0 million gallons of water per day. The production capacity of the Britannia plant is 715,000 gallons of water per day. The production capacity of the West Bay plant is 885,000 gallons of water per day.

Electricity to our plants is supplied by Caribbean Utilities Co. Ltd., a publicly traded utility company. We maintain diesel engine-driven standby generators at all three retail plant sites with sufficient capacity to operate our distribution pumps and other essential equipment during any temporary interruptions in electricity supply. Standby generation capacity is available at our ACWW plants and West Bay plant to operate a portion of the water production capacity as well.

In the event of an emergency, our distribution system is connected to the distribution system of the WAC. In prior years, we have purchased water from the WAC for brief periods of time and have also sold potable water to the WAC from our retail plants.

Our pipeline system on Grand Cayman covers the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas and consists of approximately 90 miles of potable water pipeline. We extend our distribution system periodically as demand warrants. We have a main pipe loop covering the Seven Mile Beach and West Bay areas. We place extensions of smaller diameter pipe off our main pipe to service new developments in our service area. This system of building branches from the main pipe keeps construction costs low and allows us to provide service to new areas in a timely manner. Developers are responsible for laying the pipeline within their developments at their own cost, but in accordance with our specifications. When a development is completed, the developer then transfers operation and maintenance of the pipeline to us.

We bill our customers on a monthly basis based on metered consumption and bills are typically collected within 30 to 35 days after the billing date. Receivables not collected within 45 days subject the customer to disconnection from water service. In 2020 and 2019, bad debts represented less than 1% of our total annual retail sales. In addition to their past due invoice balance, customers that have had their service disconnected must pay re-connection charges.

Historically, demand on our water production and pipeline distribution has varied throughout the year. Demand depends upon various factors, most notably rainfall amounts and the number of tourists during any particular time of the year. In

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general, the majority of tourists come from the United States during the winter which is also the dry season in the Cayman Islands. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting cessation of tourism to the Cayman Islands have significantly reduced demand for our water. We are unable at this time to determine if or when demand for our water in the Cayman Islands will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Bulk Water Operations

For fiscal years 2020 and 2019, our bulk water operations accounted for approximately 33% and 39%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue. These operations produce potable water from seawater and sell this water to governments in the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas.

Bulk Water Operations in the Cayman Islands

Through our wholly-owned subsidiary OC-Cayman we provide bulk water to the WAC, a government-owned utility and regulatory agency, under two agreements. The WAC in turn distributes that water to properties in Grand Cayman outside of our retail license area.

The water we provide to the WAC is produced at three seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants in Grand Cayman owned by the WAC but designed, built and operated by OC-Cayman: the North Sound, Red Gate and North Side Water Works (“NSWW”) plants, which have production capacities of approximately 1.6 million, 1.3 million and 2.4 million gallons of water per day, respectively. The plants we operate for the WAC are located on land owned by the WAC.

In response to a public bidding process for a new operations and maintenance agreement encompassing both the North Sound and Red Gate plants, OC-Cayman submitted a bid for the new agreement. In August 2018, the WAC accepted OC-Cayman’s bid for the new agreement, and the WAC and OC-Cayman entered into a new five-year contract commencing on February 1, 2019 for the operation of the North Sound and Red Gate plants. The terms of the new agreement are substantially consistent with those of the prior North Sound and Red Gate water supply agreements, except that (i) we have decreased the price we charge for the water supplied; and (ii) under the new agreement the WAC pays the energy costs for the operation of these plants directly to the utility company rather than paying OC-Cayman pass -through energy charges for these costs. The per gallon price we charged for the water supplied under the new agreement in February 2019, excluding the effect of the pass-through energy component, was approximately 25% less than the per gallon rate we charged in February 2018 under the prior agreements which expired contemporaneously with the new agreements coming into force. As a result of this price reduction (and assuming comparable sales volumes), the revenues and operating income we generate from the North Sound and Red Gate plants commencing February 1, 2019 is less than the revenues and operating income we generated from these plants under the previous agreements.

Pursuant to a public bidding process, in February 2019 we submitted our bid to operate and maintain the third plant operated by OC-Cayman for the WAC, the North Side Water Works (“NSWW”) plant, for a period of seven years after the then current contract expired. In April 2019, the WAC accepted OC-Cayman’s bid for the new agreement, and the WAC and OC-Cayman entered into a new seven-year contract commencing on July l, 2019 for the operation of the NSWW plant. The previous operating agreement for the NSWW plant expired in June 2019. The per gallon price for the water supplied under the new agreement, excluding the pass-through energy component, is approximately 29% less than the price in effect as of June 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. The remaining terms of the new agreement are substantially consistent with those of the prior NSWW water supply agreement, except that under the new agreement the WAC will pay the energy costs for the operation of this plant directly to the utility company rather than reimburse OC-Cayman for these costs.

Bulk Water Operations in The Bahamas

We sell bulk water in The Bahamas through our majority-owned subsidiary, CW-Bahamas, to the WSC, which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the Island of New Providence. We also sold water to a private resort on Bimini through December 18, 2020.

We supply bulk water in The Bahamas from our Windsor and Blue Hills plants.

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Our water supply agreement with the WSC for our Windsor plant, which has a capacity of 2.8 million gallons per day, expires in August 2033 and requires us to deliver and requires the WSC to purchase a minimum of 16.8 million gallons per week. Pursuant to this agreement, CW-Bahamas was required to complete capital improvements to the Windsor plant to ensure that the plant can meet its performance guarantees during the agreement period. These improvements were completed during the fourth quarter of 2018.

We supply water from the Blue Hills plant, our largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility with a capacity of 12.0 million gallons per day, under the terms of a water supply agreement with the WSC that expires in March 2032 that requires us to deliver and requires the WSC to purchase a minimum of 63.0 million gallons of water each week.

The Bimini plant supplied water to a private resort under a water supply agreement that expired on December 18, 2020. This plant ceased operations on that date and the plant’s remaining assets were sold to one of our former customers in Bimini.

The high-pressure pumps at our Windsor and Blue Hills plants in The Bahamas are diesel engine-driven. Electricity for the remainder of our plant operations is supplied by Bahamas Power and Light (“BPL”). We maintain a standby generator with sufficient capacity to operate essential equipment at our Windsor and Blue Hills plants and are able to produce 100% of the production capacity with these plants during temporary interruptions in the electricity supply from BPL.

Services Operations

For fiscal years 2020 and 2019, our services operations accounted for approximately 18% and 3%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue.

We provide design, engineering and construction services for desalination infrastructure projects through DesalCo, an original equipment manufacturer of seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants. DesalCo also provides management and procurement services for desalination plants and engineering services relating to municipal water production, distribution and treatment. DesalCo also conducts research and development. DesalCo sometimes tests new components and technology offered by suppliers in our business and, at times, collaborates with suppliers in the development of their products. Presently, DesalCo is providing management and purchasing services to our affiliate OC-BVI in the British Virgin Islands. In the past, DesalCo has provided consulting services to the WSC and constructed and sold desalination plants to the WAC.

On October 24, 2019, we acquired 51% of the common stock of PERC, a U.S. company headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, which commenced operations in 2004. In August 2020, we acquired an additional 10% of PERC, increasing our ownership of this subsidiary to 61%. PERC develops, builds, and sells wastewater and water reuse infrastructure. PERC also provides management services for wastewater and water reuse infrastructure under long term operations and maintenance contracts.PERC’s primary markets are California and the Southwest U.S., but it conducts business in other areas of the U.S.

Manufacturing Operations

For fiscal years 2020 and 2019, our manufacturing operations accounted for approximately 17% and 20%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue. Our manufacturing operations consists of Aerex, an original equipment manufacturer and service provider of a wide range of specialized and custom products applicable to desalination, municipal water treatment and industrial water and wastewater treatment. Aerex’s products include reverse osmosis desalination equipment, membrane separation equipment, filtration equipment, piping systems, vessels and custom fabricated components. Aerex’s manufacturing facility and headquarters are located in Fort Pierce, Florida and substantially all of its customers are U.S. companies. We acquired a 51% ownership interest in Aerex in 2016, and in January 2020 we acquired the remaining 49% ownership of Aerex.

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Affiliate Operations

Our affiliate, OC-BVI, sells water to the Government of the British Virgin Islands Water and Sewerage Department (“BVIW&S”). We own 50% of the voting shares of OC-BVI and have an overall 43.53% equity interest in the profits of OC-BVI. We also own separate profit-sharing rights in OC-BVI that raise our effective interest in OC-BVI’s profits from 43.53% to approximately 45%. Sage Water Holdings (BVI) Limited (“Sage”) owns the remaining 50% of the voting shares of OC-BVI and the remaining 55% interest in its profits. Under the Articles of Association of OC-BVI, we have the right to appoint three of the six Directors of OC-BVI. Sage is entitled to appoint the remaining three Directors. In the event of a tied vote of the Directors, the President of the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, a regional trade association comprised primarily of government representatives, is entitled to appoint a junior director to cast a deciding vote.

Through DesalCo, we provide certain engineering and administrative services to OC-BVI for a monthly fee and a bonus arrangement which provides for payment of 4% of the net operating income of OC-BVI.

We account for our investment in OC-BVI using the equity method of accounting.

OC-BVI sells bulk water to BVIW&S, which distributes the water through its own pipeline system to residential, commercial and tourist properties on the islands of Tortola and Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands.

OC-BVI owns and operates a desalination plant located at Bar Bay, Tortola with a capacity of 720,000 gallons per day. Pursuant to a water supply agreement with the BVI government, OC-BVI is required to supply up to 600,000 gallons per day to the BVI government. This water supply agreement expires March 2031.

OC-BVI purchases electrical power to operate this plant from BVI Electric Co. and operates diesel engine driven emergency power generators which can produce 100% of the plant’s production capacity when BVI Electric Co. is unable to provide power to the plant.

OC-BVI’s plant on the island of Jost Van Dyke has a capacity of 60,000 gallons per day. This plant operates under a 10-year contract with the BVI government that expired July 8, 2013. Pursuant to the contract, OC-BVI is operating the plant on a year-to-year basis until the BVI government informs OC-BVI of its intention to extend the existing contract or enter into a new agreement. We purchase electrical power to operate this plant from BVI Electric Co.

Reverse Osmosis Technology

The conversion of seawater to potable water is called desalination. The primary method of seawater desalination used throughout the world is reverse osmosis. Reverse osmosis is a fluid separation process in which the saline water (i.e. seawater) is pressurized and the fresh water is separated from the saline water by passing through a semi-permeable membrane which rejects the salts. The saline water is first passed through a pretreatment system, which generally consists of fine filtration and treatment chemicals, if required. Pre-treatment removes suspended solids and organics which could cause fouling of the membrane surface. Next, a high-pressure pump pressurizes the saline water thus enabling approximately 40% conversion of the saline water to fresh water as it passes through the membrane, while more than 99% of the dissolved salts are rejected and remain in the now concentrated saline water. This concentrate is discharged without passing through the membrane, and the remaining hydraulic energy in the concentrate is transferred to the initial saline feed water with an energy recovery device thus reducing the total energy requirement for the reverse osmosis system. The final step is post-treatment, which consists of stabilizing the produced fresh water and/or removing undesirable dissolved gases, adjusting the pH and (if necessary) the mineral content, and providing chlorination to prepare it for distribution.

We use reverse osmosis technology to convert seawater to potable water at all of the desalination plants we construct and operate. We believe that this technology is the most effective and efficient conversion process for our markets. However, we are always seeking ways to maximize efficiencies in our current processes and investigating new, more efficient processes to convert seawater to potable water. The equipment at our desalination plants is among the most energy efficient available and we monitor and maintain the equipment in an efficient manner. As a result of our decades of experience in seawater desalination, we believe our expertise and experience with respect to the development and operation of desalination plants and similar facilities is easily transferable to locations outside of our current operating areas.

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Wastewater Treatment Technology

Our wastewater treatment comprises various technologies which rely on the action of microorganisms to treat wastewater. The sequential batch reactor (“SBR”) technology we typically use is a conventional, proven method which has been used to treat organic wastewater for many years. More than 1,000 SBR treatment facilities are in use in the United States ranging in size from 10,000 gallons per day to 22 million gallons per day. Increasingly, we utilize Membrane Bioreactor (“MBR”) technology which utilizes micro or ultra-filtration membranes to enhance biological wastewater treatment. The improvements offered by MBR technology include a reduced physical footprint for the facility, higher quality treated effluent and the ability to treat more challenging influent.

PERC has improved upon the standard SBR and MBR processes and strives to locate its equipment underground and concealed below aesthetically pleasing buildings.

Raw Materials and Sources of Supply

All materials, parts and supplies essential to our business operations are obtained from multiple sources and we use the latest industry technology. Prior to our acquisition of Aerex, we did not manufacture any parts or components for equipment essential to our business. Aerex has manufactured some of the key components for some of our desalination plants in the past and we expect Aerex to continue to do so from time to time, however, our other businesses are not dependent on Aerex.

Our access to seawater for processing into potable water is granted through our licenses and contracts with governments of the various jurisdictions in which we have our operations.

Seasonal Variations in Our Business

Demand for our water in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands is affected by variations in the level of tourism and rainfall. Tourism in our service areas is affected by the economies of the tourists’ home countries, primarily the United States and Europe, terrorist activity and perceived threats thereof, global health concerns such as COVID-19, and increased costs of fuel and airfares. In the Cayman Islands, we normally sell more water during the first and second quarters of the year, when the number of tourists is greater and local rainfall is less than in the third and fourth quarters. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting cessation of tourism to the Cayman Islands have significantly reduced demand for our water. We are unable at this time to determine if or when demand for our water in the Cayman Islands will return to pre-pandemic levels. Demand in The Bahamas has not been affected to the same degree by the recent drop in tourism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The business conducted by Aerex and PERC is generally not subject to seasonal variations.

Government Regulations, Custom Duties and Taxes

Our operations and activities are subject to the governmental regulations and taxes of the countries in which we operate. The following summary of regulatory developments and legislation does not purport to describe all present and proposed regulation and legislation that may affect our businesses. Legislative or regulatory requirements currently applicable to our businesses may change in the future. Any such changes could impose new obligations on us that may adversely affect our businesses and operating results. The following paragraphs set forth some of the key governmental regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate outside of the United States.

The Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands are a British Overseas Territory and has had a stable political climate since 1670, when the Treaty of Madrid ceded the Cayman Islands to England. The Queen of England appoints the Governor of the Cayman Islands to make laws with the advice and consent of the Parliament of the Cayman Islands. The Parliament of the Cayman Islands consists of 19 elected members and two members appointed by the Governor from the Civil Service. The Cabinet is responsible for day-to-day government operations. The Cabinet consists of the Premier and six other ministers who are

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chosen by the Premier from its 19 popularly elected members, and the two Civil Service members. The elected members choose from among themselves a leader, who is designated the Premier, and is in effect the leader of the elected government. The Governor has reserved powers and the United Kingdom retains full control over foreign affairs and defense. The Cayman Islands are a common law jurisdiction and have adopted a legal system similar to that of the United Kingdom.

The Cayman Islands have no taxes on profits, income, distributions, capital gains or appreciation. We have exemptions from, or receive concessionary rates of customs duties on, certain capital expenditures for plant and major consumable spare parts and supplies imported into the Cayman Islands under our retail water license. We do not pay import duty or taxes on reverse osmosis membranes, electric pumps and motors, and chemicals, but we do pay duty at the rate of 10% of the cost, including insurance and transportation to the Cayman Islands, of other plant and associated materials and equipment to manufacture or supply water in the Seven Mile Beach or West Bay areas. We have been advised by the Government of the Cayman Islands that we will not receive any duty concessions in any new retail water license signed with the government.

The Bahamas

The Commonwealth of The Bahamas is an independent nation and a constitutional parliamentary democracy with the Queen of England as the constitutional head of state. The basis of the Bahamian law and legal system is the English common law tradition with a Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and a Magistrates court.

Under the current laws of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, no income, corporation, capital gains or similar taxes are payable by us. We are required to pay an annual business license fee (the calculation of which is based on our preceding year’s financial statements) which to date has not been material to the results of our Bahamas operations. We are also required to pay a value added tax on materials and services we purchase.

The British Virgin Islands

The British Virgin Islands (the “BVI”) is a British Overseas Territory, with the Queen of England as the Head of State and Her Majesty’s representative, the Governor, responsible for external affairs, defense and internal security, the Civil Service and administration of the courts. Since 1967, the BVI has held responsibility for its own internal affairs.

The BVI Constitution provides for the people of the BVI to be represented by a ministerial system of government, led by an elected Premier, a Cabinet of Ministers and the House of Assembly. The House of Assembly consists of 13 elected representatives, the Attorney General, and the Speaker.

The judicial system, based on English law, is under the direction of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which includes the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal. The ultimate appellate court is the Privy Council in London.

Markets and Service Areas

We operate in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, the United States and the British Virgin Islands. We believe that potential new markets for us include (i) any location where a need for potable water exists and reverse osmosis desalination of seawater or brackish water is an economically viable means of meeting such need; (ii) any location with a need for the water treatment and water reuse infrastructure development and management services we provide; and (iii) those new customers that require specialized water production and treatment products and systems such as those we manufacture.

Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands government, through the WAC, supplies water to the areas of Grand Cayman that are not within our licensed area, as well as to Cayman Brac. We operate all but one of the reverse osmosis desalination plants owned by the WAC on Grand Cayman and supply water under two agreements held by OC-Cayman with the WAC.

According to the most recent information published by the Economics and Statistics Office of the Cayman Islands Government, the population of the Cayman Islands was estimated in December 2019 to be 69,914. According to the figures

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published by the Department of Tourism Statistics Information Center, in 2020 as compared to 2019, tourist air arrivals decreased by 71% to approximately 145,000 and cruise ship tourist arrivals decreased by 71% to approximately 530,000.

We believe that our water sales in the Cayman Islands are more positively impacted by stay-over tourists that arrive by air than by those arriving by cruise ship, since cruise ship tourists generally only visit the island for one day or less and do not remain on the island overnight. Our water sales in the Cayman Islands are also greatly impacted by rainfall patterns and amounts on Grand Cayman. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting cessation of tourism to the Cayman Islands have significantly reduced demand for our water. We are unable at this time to determine if or when demand for our water in the Cayman Islands will return to pre-pandemic levels.

The Bahamas. The Bahamas government, through the WSC, supplies all of the piped water on the island of New Providence, Bahamas, which includes Nassau, the largest city, political capital and commercial hub of The Bahamas. We supply water to the WSC through the water supply agreements for our Blue Hills and Windsor plants, which are located in Nassau. New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, with more than 70% of the country’s population. A 2010 census placed the population of New Providence at approximately 246,000; more recent estimates suggest it is approximately 275,000. According to statistics published by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, the number of cruise ship arrival and air arrival tourists to New Providence exceeded 2.8 million and 1.3 million, respectively, in 2019 and are estimated to have dropped by more than 70% in each case in 2020.

British Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands are a British Overseas Territory and are situated east of Puerto Rico. They consist of 16 inhabited and more than 20 uninhabited islands, of which Tortola is the largest and most populated. The British Virgin Islands serve as a hub for many large yacht-chartering businesses.

Competition

Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our license granted by the Cayman Islands government, we have the exclusive right to provide potable, piped water within our licensed service area on Grand Cayman. The last express extension of this license expired on January 31, 2018. However, we continue to operate under the terms of this license, providing water services to the level and quality specified in the 1990 license and in accordance with its legal obligations, treating those obligations set forth in the license as operative notwithstanding the expiration of the express extension. Negotiations for a new license are on-going.

We are the only non-government-owned public water utility on Grand Cayman. The Cayman Islands government, through the WAC, supplies water to parts of Grand Cayman located outside of our licensed service area. Although we have no competition within our exclusive retail license service area for potable water, our ability to expand our service area is at the discretion of the Cayman Islands government. We have competed with such companies as SUEZ (formerly GE Water), Veolia, IDE Technologies and small local contractors for bulk water supply contracts with the WAC and expect to compete with these and other companies for any new water supply contracts awarded by the WAC.

The Bahamas. We have competed with companies such as SUEZ (formerly GE Water), Veolia, IDE Technologies, and TSG for the contracts with The Bahamas government to build and operate seawater desalination plants in the past. We expect to compete with these companies and others for any future water supply contracts in The Bahamas.

British Virgin Islands. In the British Virgin Islands, SUEZ (formerly GE Water) operates seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants in West End, Tortola, and on Virgin Gorda and generally bids against OC-BVI for projects. Seven Seas Water owns and operates a 2.75 million gallon per day desalination plant in Parakeeta Bay, Tortola for the British Virgin Islands government. We expect that OC-BVI will be required to compete against SUEZ (formerly GE Water), Seven Seas Water and other parties for any future business opportunities that may arise in the British Virgin Islands.

United States. Aerex competes in the highly fragmented industry for manufactured water production and treatment equipment and systems against a large number of manufacturers, fabricators and service providers, many of which have greater resources than Aerex.

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Similar to Aerex, PERC competes in the highly fragmented industry for water treatment and water reuse infrastructure development and management against a large number of companies, many of which have greater resources than PERC.

Environmental and Health Regulatory Matters

Cayman Islands. With respect to our Cayman Islands operations, we operate our water plants in accordance with Cayman Islands laws and regulations. We are licensed by the WAC to extract seawater from wells and discharge concentrated seawater, which is a byproduct of our desalination process, into deep disposal wells.

Our Cayman Islands retail water license and bulk water operating contracts require our potable water to meet the World Health Organization’s Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality and contain less than 200 mg/l of total dissolved solids.

The Bahamas and British Virgin Islands. With respect to our Bahamian operations and OC-BVI’s British Virgin Islands operations, we and OC-BVI are required by our water supply contracts to take all reasonable measures to prevent pollution of the environment. We are licensed by the Bahamian government to discharge concentrated seawater, which is a by-product of our desalination process, into deep disposal wells. OC-BVI is licensed by the British Virgin Islands government to discharge concentrated seawater into the sea.

At several of our locations, hydrogen sulfide gas is present in the seawater and we are contractually obligated to operate our plants in a manner designed to prevent the emission of airborne gas into the environment.

United States. Consistent with other U.S. companies, Aerex and PERC must comply with various federal laws and regulations, such as those administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as state and local laws and regulations.

We are not aware of any existing or pending environmental legislation which may negatively affect our operations. Presently, we do not have any outstanding issues with any regulatory authority.

Human Capital

We are committed to a work environment that is welcoming, inclusive and encouraging. To achieve our plans and goals, it is imperative that we attract and retain top talent. In order to do so, we aim to have a safe and encouraging workplace, with opportunities for our employees to grow and develop professionally, supported by strong compensation, benefits, and other incentives. Historically, we have experienced a low turnover of employees.

As of March 26, 2021, we employed a total of 102 persons, 60 in the Cayman Islands, 22 in the United States, and 20 in The Bahamas. We also leased 20 employees for Aerex’s manufacturing activities in the United States, leased 71 employees for PERC’s activities in the United States and managed the five employees of OC-BVI in the British Virgin Islands. We have 15 management employees and 40 administrative and clerical employees. The remaining employees are engaged in engineering, purchasing, plant maintenance and operations, pipe laying and repair, leak detection, new customer connections, meter reading and laboratory analysis of water quality. We have no collective bargaining agreements with our employees, and none are represented by labor unions. We consider our relationships with our employees to be good.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, some of our employees have been working remotely. We implemented a number of significant safety measures based on current guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control for employees who work at our facilities. These include, but are not limited to, social distancing, capacity limitations, mask requirements in common areas, weekly deep cleaning and daily sanitation procedures.

Available Information

Our website address is http://www.cwco.com. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report, and you should not consider information contained on our website as part of this Annual Report.

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We have adopted a written code of conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees and Directors, including, but not limited to, our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominations and Corporate Governance Committee and the Corporate Governance Guidelines of our Board of Directors are available at the Investors section of our website.

You may access, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K, plus amendments to such reports as filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, on our website and on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition, paper copies of these documents may be obtained free of charge by writing us at the following address: Consolidated Water Co. Ltd., Regatta Office Park, Windward Three, 4th Floor, West Bay Road, P.O. Box 1114, Grand Cayman, KY1-1102, Cayman Islands, Attention: Investor Relations; or by calling us at (345) 945-4277.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves risks. Before investing in our common stock, you should consider carefully the factors discussed below and the information contained in this Annual Report. Each of these risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, and cause the value of our common stock to decline, which may result in the loss of part, or all, of your investment.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue to have a material adverse impact on our financial performance and financial condition in the future, to an extent and for a period of time that cannot presently be determined.

The worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was formally recognized by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. In response to this pandemic, the governments of the countries in which we operate - the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, and the United States - implemented preventative measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, measures which have had profound adverse consequences for the economies of those countries. Tourism, a major economic driver for the Cayman Islands, has temporarily ceased due to closing of the country to tourist arrivals by air and sea travel. Tourists arrivals to The Bahamas by air and sea have declined significantly due to the pandemic and continue to be only a small fraction of pre-pandemic numbers due to travel restrictions within and outside of The Bahamas, as well the continued reluctance of people to travel internationally. Overall economic activity in the United States has also declined precipitously.

As a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies of the countries in which we operate, we have experienced, and will continue to experience, decreases in our consolidated revenue, cash flows generated from operations, and overall liquidity as compared to comparable prior periods.

Furthermore, the economic downturn created by the COVID-19 pandemic is adversely impacting our customers. Such adverse impacts, should they continue for a prolonged period of time, could require us to reassess the expected future cash flows from our four reporting units and could require us to record impairment losses to reduce the carrying values of one or more of these reporting units due to a decline in their fair values.

Although we cannot presently quantify the future financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our company, we believe such impacts will likely continue to have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Given the uncertainty associated with the resolution of this pandemic, we cannot presently determine how long such adverse financial impacts may last.

Our exclusive license to provide water to retail customers in the Cayman Islands has not been expressly extended and we are presently unable to predict the outcome of our on-going negotiations relating to this license.

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the terms of the 1990 license, as further discussed in the following paragraph. Pursuant to the 1990 license, Cayman Water has the exclusive right to produce potable water and distribute it by pipeline to its licensed service area, which consists of two of the three most populated areas of Grand Cayman Island: Seven Mile Beach and West Bay. In 2020 and 2019, we generated approximately 32% and 38%, respectively, of our consolidated revenue and 44% and 53%, respectively, of our consolidated gross profit from the retail water operations conducted under the 1990 license.

In October 2016, the Government of the Cayman Islands passed legislation which created a new utilities regulation and competition office (“OfReg”). OfReg is an independent and accountable regulatory body with a view of protecting the rights of consumers, encouraging affordable utility services, and promoting competition. OfReg, which began operations in January 2017, has the ability to supervise, monitor and regulate multiple utility undertakings and markets. Supplemental legislation was passed by the Government of the Cayman Islands in April 2017, which transferred responsibility for economic regulation of the water utility sector and the negotiations with us for a new retail license from the Water Authority-Cayman to OfReg in May 2017. We began license negotiations with OfReg in July 2017 and such negotiations are ongoing. We have been informed during our retail license negotiations, both by OfReg and its predecessor in these negotiations, that the Cayman Islands government seeks to restructure the terms of our license in a manner that could significantly reduce the operating income and cash flows we have historically generated from our retail license.

We are presently unable to determine what impact the resolution of our retail license negotiations will have on our cash flows, financial condition or results of operations but such resolution could result in a material reduction (or the loss) of the operating income and cash flows we have historically generated from our retail operations and could require us to record impairment losses to reduce the carrying values of our retail segment assets. Such impairment losses could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Periodically, our Bahamas subsidiary experiences substantial delays in the collection of its accounts receivable. As a result, our Bahamas subsidiary could have insufficient liquidity to continue operations, and our consolidated results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable balances (which include accrued interest) due from the WSC amounted to $16.8 million and $18.4 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Approximately 76% of the December 31, 2020 accounts receivable balance was delinquent as of that date. The delay in collecting these accounts receivable has adversely impacted the liquidity of this subsidiary.

Historically, CW-Bahamas has experienced delays in collecting its accounts receivable from the WSC. When these delays occur, we hold discussions and meetings with representatives of the WSC and The Bahamas government, and as a result, payment schedules are developed for WSC’s delinquent accounts receivable. All previous delinquent accounts receivable from the WSC were eventually paid in full. Based upon this payment history, CW-Bahamas has never been required to provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for any of its accounts receivable, despite the periodic accumulation of significant delinquent balances. As of December 31, 2020, we have not provided an allowance for doubtful accounts for CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable from the WSC.

We believe the delays we have experienced in collecting CW-Bahamas’ receivables have been further extended by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy of The Bahamas.

If CW-Bahamas continues to be unable to collect a significant portion of its delinquent accounts receivable, one or more of the following events may occur: (i) CW-Bahamas may not have sufficient liquidity to meet its obligations; (ii) we may be required to cease the recognition of revenue on CW-Bahamas’ water supply agreements with the WSC; and (iii) we

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may be required to provide an allowance for doubtful accounts for CW-Bahamas’ accounts receivable. Any of these events could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Most of our services segment revenue is generated under short term contracts. An inability to obtain extensions of these contracts or to obtain new contracts to replace the revenue that is lost from contracts that are not extended could adversely impact our financial results.

PERC, our principal services segment subsidiary, generates most of its revenue from contracts (“O&M contracts”) to operate and maintain water treatment and reuse facilities owned by third parties. For the year ended December 31, 2020, we generated revenue of approximately $9.2 million under these O&M contracts. PERC’s O&M contracts have terms ranging from one to five years, with varying renewal options exercisable solely at the discretion of the customer. Approximately 19% of PERC’s revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020 was generated under O&M contracts that expire at various dates through December 31, 2021. If we are unable to obtain extensions of these expiring O&M contracts, or are unable to replace the revenue lost from contracts that expire with revenue from new O&M contracts, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected.

If Aerex’s future financial performance falls short of our most recent financial projections for this subsidiary, we may be required to record an impairment loss to reduce the carrying value of the goodwill recorded for our manufacturing reporting unit.

In February 2016, we acquired a 51% ownership interest in Aerex. In connection with this acquisition, we recorded initial goodwill of $8,035,211. Aerex’s actual results of operations in the six months following our acquisition of this company fell significantly short of the projected results that were included in the overall cash flow projections we utilized to determine the purchase price for Aerex and the fair values of its assets and liabilities. Due to this shortfall in Aerex’s results of operations, we updated our projections for Aerex’s future cash flows and tested Aerex’s goodwill for possible impairment as of September 30, 2016 by estimating its fair value using the discounted cash flow method. As a result of this impairment testing, we determined that the carrying value of our Aerex goodwill exceeded its fair value and recorded an impairment loss of $1,750,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2016 to reduce the carrying value of this goodwill to $6,285,211. As part of our annual impairment testing of goodwill performed during the fourth quarter of each year, we updated our projections for Aerex’s future cash flows, determined that the carrying value of our Aerex goodwill exceeded its fair value, and recorded an impairment loss of $1,400,000 for the three months ended December 31, 2017 to further reduce the carrying value of this goodwill to $4,885,211.

Approximately 80% and 68% of Aerex’s revenue, and 89% and 68% of Aerex’s gross profit, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, were generated from sales to one customer. In October 2020, this customer verbally informed Aerex that, for inventory management purposes, it was suspending its purchases from Aerex following 2020 for a period of approximately one year. This customer has verbally informed Aerex that it presently expects to recommence its purchases from Aerex beginning with the first quarter of 2022. However, we can offer no assurances that this customer will recommence its purchases from Aerex at that time. Furthermore, any such future purchases (should they occur) may not generate as much revenue and gross profit as Aerex has historically earned from this customer. We are seeking to replace the anticipated loss in revenue and gross profit from this customer by increasing sales of other products that we manufacture to new and existing customers, however, we may not be able to do so.

As a result of this anticipated loss of revenue for Aerex, we updated our projections for our manufacturing reporting unit’s future cash flows. Such projections assume, in part, that Aerex’s major customer will recommence its purchases from Aerex in 2022 but at a reduced aggregate amount, as compared to 2020 and 2019. Based upon these updated projections, we tested our manufacturing reporting unit’s goodwill for possible impairment as of December 31, 2020. As a result of this impairment testing, we determined that the estimated fair value of our manufacturing reporting unit exceeded its carrying value as of December 31, 2020. However, we may be required to record an impairment loss in the future to reduce the carrying value of our manufacturing reporting unit’s goodwill should we determine that Aerex’s future net cash inflows will be less than our most current expectations. Any such impairment loss could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

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The profitability of our contracts is dependent upon our ability to accurately estimate construction and operating costs.

The cost estimates we prepare in connection with the construction and operation of our plants are subject to inherent uncertainties. Additionally, the terms of our water supply contracts may require us to guarantee the price of water on a per unit basis, subject to certain annual inflation and monthly energy cost adjustments, and to assume the risk that the costs associated with producing this water may be greater than anticipated. Because we base our contract prices in part on our estimation of future construction and operating costs, the profitability of our plants and management contracts is dependent on our ability to estimate these costs accurately. The cost of materials and services and the cost of the delivery of such services may increase significantly after we submit our bid for a plant, which could cause the gross profit for a plant to be less than we anticipated when the bid was made. The profit margins we initially expect to generate from a plant could be further reduced if future operating costs for that plant exceed our estimates of such costs. These future operating costs could be affected by a variety of factors, including lower than anticipated production or treatment efficiencies and geo-hydrological conditions at the plant site that differ materially from those we believed would exist at the time we submitted our bid. Any construction and operating costs for our plants that significantly exceed our initial estimates could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

A significant portion of our consolidated revenue is derived from our water supply agreements with the WSC. The loss of the WSC as a customer would adversely affect us.

One bulk water customer, the WSC, accounted for approximately 30% of our consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020. If, for financial or other reasons, the WSC does not comply with the terms of our water supply agreements our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

Our operations are affected by tourism and are subject to seasonal fluctuations and other factors beyond our control that could affect the demand for our water.

Demand for our water in the Cayman Islands and The Bahamas is affected by variations in the level of tourism and local weather, primarily rainfall. Tourism in our service areas is affected by the economies of the tourists’ home countries, primarily the United States and Europe, terrorist activity and perceived threats thereof, global health concerns (such as COVID-19), and increased costs of fuel and airfare. In the Cayman Islands, we normally sell more water during the first and second quarters of the year, when the number of tourists is greater and local rainfall is less than in the third and fourth quarters. A downturn in tourism or greater than expected rainfall in the locations we serve could adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting cessation of tourism to the Cayman Islands have significantly reduced demand for our water. We are unable at this time to determine if or when demand for our water in the Cayman Islands will return to pre-pandemic levels. Demand in The Bahamas has not been affected to the same degree by the recent drop in tourism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Performance shortfalls under any of our bulk supply contracts could result in penalties or cancellation of the contract.

Our bulk water supply agreements require us to meet specified minimum quality, quantity and energy consumption guarantees. Membrane fouling or other technical problems could occur at any of our plants, and if we are unable to meet the guarantees due to such technical problems, we could be in default of the supply agreement and subject to various adverse consequences, including financial penalties or cancellation of the agreement.

Our operations could be harmed by natural disasters such as hurricanes, tropical storms or earthquakes.

A natural disaster could cause major damage to our equipment and properties and the properties of our customers, including the large tourist properties in our areas of operation. For example, in January 2020, Grand Cayman experienced an earthquake which damaged our storage tanks. Any future disaster could cause us to lose use of our equipment and properties and incur additional repair costs. Damage to our customers’ properties and the adverse impact on tourism could

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result in a decrease in water demand. A natural disaster could also disrupt the delivery of equipment and supplies, including electricity, necessary to our operations. These and other possible effects of natural disasters could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows..

Contamination of our water may cause disruption in our services and adversely affect our revenue.

Our feed water and/or processed water may become contaminated by natural occurrences and by inadvertent or intentional human interference, including acts of terrorism. If our feed water and/or processed water becomes contaminated, we may have to interrupt our supply of potable water until we are able to install treatment equipment or substitute the flow of water from an uncontaminated water source. In addition, we may incur significant costs in order to treat contaminated feed or processed water through expansion of our current treatment facilities, or development of new treatment methods. An inability by us to substitute feed water from an uncontaminated water source or to adequately treat the contaminated plant feed water or our processed water in a cost-effective manner may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

Potential government decisions, actions and regulations could negatively affect our operations.

We are subject to the local regulations of the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands, all of which are subject to change. Any government that regulates our operations may issue legislation or adopt new regulations, including but not limited to:

●restricting foreign ownership (by us);

●providing for the expropriation of our assets by the government;

●providing for nationalization of public utilities by the government;

●providing for different water quality standards;

●unilaterally changing or renegotiating our license and agreements;

●restricting the transfer of U.S. currency; or

●causing currency exchange fluctuations/devaluations or enacting changes in tax laws.

As new laws and regulations are issued, we may be required to modify our operations and business strategy, which we may be unable to do in a cost-effective manner. Failure by us to comply with applicable regulations could result in the loss of our authorizations to operate, the assessment of penalties or fines, or otherwise may have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Unforeseen environmental costs could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning environmental protection, including laws addressing water quality and contamination, the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, and the cleanup of contaminated sites. In particular, we face increasing complexity in our operations as we adjust to new and future requirements relating to water quality, the composition of our other products, their safe use, the energy consumption associated with our operations, and climate change laws and regulations. If we were to violate or become liable under environmental laws or if our products become non-compliant with environmental laws, we could incur substantial costs or face other sanctions, which may include restrictions on operating in certain jurisdictions. Our potential exposure includes fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party property damage, personal injury claims and clean-up costs. Further, liability under some environmental laws relating to contaminated sites can be imposed retroactively, on a joint and several basis, and without any finding of noncompliance or fault. The amount and timing of costs to comply with environmental laws are difficult to predict. In addition, any complaints or lawsuits against us based on water quality and contamination may receive negative publicity that can damage our reputation and adversely affect our business and trading price of our common stock.

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If we fail to abide by laws, rules and regulations relating to human and workers’ rights, we could be subject to suit and our reputation could be harmed, which could result in losses in our business and financial results.

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning human rights, including laws prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and forced or child labor, and establishing wage and hour standards. If we were to violate or become liable under human or workers’ laws, we could incur substantial costs or face other sanctions. Our potential exposure includes fines and civil or criminal sanctions or liability. The amount and timing of costs to comply with human and workers’ rights laws are difficult to predict. Additionally, the success of our business depends on earning and maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers, suppliers, stockholders and the communities in which we operate, our ability to compete for future opportunities, and our reputation among existing and potential clients and partners. Our reputation is critical to our business and could be impacted by events that may be difficult or impossible to control, and costly or impossible to remediate. For example, alleged or actual failures by us or our employees to comply with applicable human or workers’ rights laws, rules or regulations, expectations and perceptions of our employment and environmental, social and governance practices, threatened or actual litigation against us or our employees, or the public announcement and potential publicity surrounding any of these issues, even if inaccurate, satisfactorily addressed, or if no violation or wrongdoing actually occurred, could adversely impact our reputation and relationships with customers, suppliers, stockholders and the communities in which we operate, and our ability to renew or negotiate new agreements for projects. Any such failure or reputational harm could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on the efforts of key employees. Our failure to retain these employees could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our success depends upon the abilities of our Executive Officers. In particular, the loss of the services of Frederick W. McTaggart, our President and Chief Executive Officer, could be detrimental to our operations and our continued success. Mr. McTaggart has an employment agreement expiring on December 31, 2023. Each year, the term of this agreement may be extended for an additional year. However, we cannot guarantee that Mr. McTaggart will continue to work for us during the term of his agreement or will extend his employment agreement with us.

Our business could be adversely affected by cyber threats or other interruptions in information technology, communications networks and operations.

As part of our operations, we rely on computer systems to process transactions and communicate with our suppliers and other third parties. We rely on continued and unimpeded access to secure network connections to communicate between locations and on reliable internet connections to communicate with external parties. We have physical, technical and procedural safeguards in place that are designed to protect information and protect against security and data breaches as well as fraudulent transactions and other activities. Despite these safeguards and our other security processes and protections, we cannot be assured that all our systems and processes are free from vulnerability to evolving and increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks, to other physical breaches or to inadvertent data disclosure by third parties or by us. A significant data security breach, including misappropriation of customer, supplier or employee confidential information, could cause us to incur significant costs, which may include potential costs of investigations, legal, forensic and consulting fees and expenses, costs and diversion of management attention required for investigation, remediation and litigation, substantial repair or replacement costs. We could also experience data losses that would impair our ability to manage our business operations, including accounting and project costs, manage our water and distribution systems or process transactions and have a negative impact on our reputation and loss of confidence of our customers, suppliers and others, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows and our business in general.

We are exposed to credit risk through our relationships with several customers.

We are subject to credit risk posed by possible defaults in payment by our bulk water customers in the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands. We are also subject to credit risk posed by possible defaults in payment by our customers in the United States. Adverse economic conditions affecting, or financial difficulties of, those parties could impair their ability to pay us or cause them to delay payment. We depend on these parties to pay us on a timely basis. Our

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outstanding accounts receivable are not covered by collateral or credit insurance. Any delay or default in payment could adversely affect our results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition.

We are exposed to the risk of variations in currency exchange rates.

Although we report our results in United States dollars, most of our revenue is earned in other currencies. These currencies have been fixed to the United States dollar for more than 20 years. Consequently, we do not employ hedging strategies against the foreign currency exchange rate risk associated with conducting business in foreign currencies while reporting in United States dollars. If any of the existing fixed exchange rates for these other currencies becomes a floating exchange rate and any of these currencies depreciate against the U.S. dollar, our consolidated financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.

We may not pay dividends in the future. If dividends are paid, they may be in lesser amounts than past dividends.

Our shareholders may receive dividends out of legally available funds if, and when, they are declared by our Board of Directors. We have paid dividends in the past but may cease to do so at any time. We may incur increased operating or development expenses or capital requirements or indebtedness in the future that may restrict our ability to pay dividends. We may also be restricted from paying dividends in the future due to restrictions imposed by applicable corporate laws, our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, covenants contained in financing agreements, and other factors considered by our Board of Directors. We may not continue to pay dividends in the future or, if dividends are paid, they may not be in amounts comparable to past dividends.

Service of process and enforcement of legal proceedings commenced against us in the United States may be difficult to obtain.

We are incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands and most of our assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, seven of our 17 Directors and Executive Officers reside outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for investors to execute service of process within the United States upon us and such other persons, or to enforce judgments obtained against such persons in United States courts, and bring any action, including actions predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the United States securities laws. In addition, it may be difficult for investors to enforce, in original actions brought in courts or jurisdictions located outside of the United States, rights predicated upon the United States securities laws.

Based on the advice of our Cayman Islands legal counsel, we believe no reciprocal statutory enforcement of foreign judgments exists between the United States and the Cayman Islands, and that foreign judgments originating from the United States are not directly enforceable in the Cayman Islands. A prevailing party in a United States proceeding against us or our Officers or Directors would have to initiate a new proceeding in the Cayman Islands using the United States judgment as evidence of the party’s claim. A prevailing party could rely on the summary judgment procedures available in the Cayman Islands, subject to available defenses in the Cayman Islands courts, including, but not limited to, the lack of competent jurisdiction in the United States courts, lack of due service of process in the United States proceeding and the possibility that enforcement or recognition of the United States judgment would be contrary to the public policy of the Cayman Islands.

Depending on the nature of damages awarded, civil liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (or the Securities Act), or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (or the Exchange Act), for original actions instituted outside the Cayman Islands may or may not be enforceable. For example, a United States judgment awarding remedies unobtainable in any legal action in the courts of the Cayman Islands, such as treble damages, would likely not be enforceable under any circumstances.

The relatively low trading volume of our stock may adversely impact the ability to sell our shares.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, the average daily trading volume of our common stock was approximately 74,000 shares, a much lower trading volume than that of many other companies listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. A public trading market having the desired characteristics of depth, liquidity and orderliness depends on the presence in the

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market of willing buyers and sellers of our common stock at any given time. This presence in turn depends on the individual decisions of investors and general economic and market conditions over which we have no control. Due to the limited volume of trading in our common stock, an investor in our stock may have difficulty selling larger volumes of our common stock in the manner, or at the price, that might be attainable if our common stock were more actively traded.

The election process for our Board of Directors may discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our Company.

We have a classified Board of Directors that consists of three groups. Only one group of Directors is elected each year. The classified nature of our Board may increase the length of time necessary for an acquirer to change the composition of

our Board in order to gain control of our Company.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

Cayman Islands Properties

Abel Castillo Water Works

We own and operate our Abel Castillo Water Works, which is located in the Seven Mile Beach area and encompasses 12,812 square feet of buildings, two seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants with an aggregate capacity of 3.0 million gallons per day, a high service distribution pump house, warehouse space and three potable water storage tanks each with a capacity of 1.0 million gallons and one potable water storage tank with a capacity of 2.0 million gallons. The site is located on 4.2 acres, including 485 feet of waterfront.

West Bay Plant

We own and operate our West Bay plant located on 6.1 acres in West Bay. The plant began operating in 1995, was expanded over the years, and now has a production capacity of approximately 885,000 gallons per day. On this site we have a 2,600 square foot building which houses our water production facilities, a 2,400 square foot building which houses the potable water distribution pumps, a water quality testing laboratory, and office space and water storage capacity consisting of three potable water tanks each with a capacity of 1.0 million gallons.

Britannia Plant

We own our Britannia seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant which is located in the Seven Mile Beach area and consists of a seawater reverse osmosis production plant with a capacity of 715,000 gallons of water per day, a potable water storage tank with a capacity of 840,000 gallons, potable water high service pumps, and various ancillary equipment. We have leased the site (comprised of 0.73 acres) and steel frame building which houses the plant for a term that ends in 2027 at an annual rent of $1.00.

Distribution System

We own our Seven Mile Beach and West Bay potable water distribution systems in Grand Cayman which consist of potable water pipes, valves, curb stops, meter boxes, and water meters. We have the legal right to maintain (and expand or contract as necessary) these systems on public and private land within our licensed service area.

Corporate Office

We occupy approximately 5,700 square feet of office space at the Regatta Office Park, West Bay Road, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands under a lease that expires in April 2024.

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Bahamas Properties

Windsor plant

Our Windsor water production facility, located in Nassau, New Providence, has a production capacity of 2.8 million gallons per day. The plant is powered by a combination of diesel engine-driven high-pressure pumps and electrical power purchased from Bahamas Power and Light to power all other loads in the plant. The plant is contained within a 12,000 sq. ft. steel building, and a warehouse, workshop and offices contained within a 2,600 sq. ft. concrete building. The buildings are located on land owned by the WSC and our water sales agreement gives us a license to use the land throughout the term of that agreement, which expires in 2033.

CWCO US Equity

CWCO · 10-K · period ended 2020-12-31

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

CWCO US Equity☆

CWCO · 10-K · period ended 2020-12-31

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

CWCO US Equity