Catalonia will install a floating desalination plant in the Port of Barcelona due to the drought and rules out boat transportation

There will also be 12 mobile phones on the Costa Brava (Girona) and the transport of water in boats is ruled out

The Minister of Climate Action of the Generalitat, David Mascort, has announced that the Government will install a floating desalination plant in the Port of Barcelona to obtain "more water resources" to supply the population in the face of drought, and says that this option is ruled out. and the transportation of water in boats.

At a press conference this Thursday with the Government spokesperson, Patrícia Plaja, after the meeting of the Interdepartmental Drought Commission, he stated that this floating desalination plant will come into operation in October, when there is a forecast of going into emergency 2 "if not will rain more between now and October", and will produce about 14 cubic hectometers more of water per year.

This desalination plant has been purchased for a period of 5 years because it is expected that in this horizon Catalonia will already have completed the expansion of the Tordera desalination plant and the new one in Foix, as well as other works for water regeneration, and believes that " there will be enough", and that if Catalonia continues to need more water then they will keep it and if not the Government will sell it.

For his part, Plaja has assured that this initiative of a floating desalination plant in the Port of Barcelona is being promoted after reaching an agreement with the construction company, Abengoa, after "forecasting work for more than six months."

On the other hand, 12 mobile desalination plants will be installed in the northern Costa Brava area, together with the Costa Brava Girona Water Consortium, to "serve the municipalities of the Muga basin", and there will be 4 in Roses, 4 in the Estación de Tratamiento de Agua Potable (ETAP) of Empuriabrava and 4 on the beach of Empuriabrava (Girona).

These mobile desalination plants will produce about 1,000 cubic meters of water per day; 35% of the water need in the area is covered; and the one in Roses and the Empuriabrava DWTP will come into operation in June and July, and the one on Empuriabrava beach between September and October.

Mascort recalled that the Darnius Boadella reservoir, which supplies this area, currently has 7 cubic hectometers of water, which is why he insists on the need to promote these desalination plants because "the water in the mouths of the residents of the municipalities of the area, from Portbou to Castelló d'Empúries".

SUPPLY THE POPULATION

The floating desalination plant in the Port of Barcelona has a cost of 100 million euros and the 12 on the Costa Brava 10 million (with a purchase cost each of 400,000 euros), so both initiatives represent a total cost of 110 million euros.

Mascort has assured that the water from these desalination plants goes "directly" to the drinking water supply network for citizens, and that the objective is to guarantee that all people have access to water despite the emergency situation due to drought, and calls to continue making efforts to reduce consumption.

As for the floating desalination plant, the modules will be installed to carry out the reverse osmosis process on top of a barge in the Port of Barcelona, ​​and there will be a pipe that will connect the 30-meter distance from the barge to the water network. supply, according to sources from the Ens d'Abastament d'Aigua Ter-Llobregat (ATL).

WATER TRANSPORTATION BY BOAT

The councilor has assured that the transport of water in ships is ruled out because the floating desalination plant solution "is more economical and environmentally sustainable", and ATL sources have explained that the cost of a cubic meter of water from the floating desalination plant will be 4 .4 euros, below the 10 euros cost per cubic meter transported by ship.

When asked if the endorsement of the Parliament's Permanent Deputation is necessary to carry out these initiatives, Mascort responded that it is not necessary, and stressed that both initiatives are positive so that citizens "do not see their situation worsened, although the drought will continue in the coming months.