SpainA floating desalination plant with a capacity of 40,000 m3 of water/day will be able to help Barcelona solve its water needs amid a prolonged drought.
The floating desalination plant will be located in the Port of Barcelona. Illustration: iStock
Residents in Barcelona are facing the worst drought in history. Authorities believe that floating desalination plants are a more economical and environmentally sustainable solution than water transportation, Interesting Engineering reported on April 22.
Previously, Barcelona relied on Europe’s largest desalination plant, Llobregat, to meet its needs, but that amount of water is not enough in the current situation. The government will install a floating desalination plant in the port of Barcelona. The facility will become operational if the Catalonia region’s water collection system enters a stage 2 emergency drought, expected before October. Stage 2 of the emergency is when reservoirs drop below 10.95%. In that case, water consumption will be limited to 180 liters of water/person/day. Authorities plan to use a total of 13 desalination facilities, including 12 mobile facilities in the northern Costa Brava region and a floating plant installed in the city of Barcelona.
The floating desalination plant will be equipped with all the necessary technology, producing about 6% of the water consumption of the Barcelona metropolitan area, about 14 million m3 of water per year. Produced water will be stored in reservoirs before being fed into the distribution network. For the Costa Brava region, 12 mobile desalination plants cost nearly 10.7 million USD, which can meet about 35% of the water supply needs here. According to David Mascort, Minister for Climate Action, Food and Rural Affairs, the purchase of the mobile desalination plant is calculated based on a five-year useful life. This is the time needed for other important infrastructure projects related to water resources to operate.
The floating desalination plant has no anchoring costs and does not affect maritime traffic. The facility produces about 40,000 m3 of water/day, nearly 50% more than the average of 25,000 m3 of water/day if transported by ship. The cost of producing water using a floating desalination plant is also much cheaper, only 6.4 USD/m3 compared to 10.7 USD/m3 when using transport ships.
Earlier this year, after more than 1,000 days of drought, the provincial government announced a state of emergency. Water restrictions affect 6 million people in Barcelona and 200 towns, or more than half of the province’s population. Currently, Barcelona residents use 160 liters of water/person/day. Last year, the Spanish government approved a $2.35 billion plan to help farmers and consumers cope with prolonged drought.
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