SOUTH KOREA – The port city of Busan will use the desalination plant located in Gijang, a coastal town near Busan, as a research hub to demonstrate new desalination technologies. In a statement released on January 8 the city revealed it had forged a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Environment and K-Water, a state water resource development and management agency, for the repurposing of the plant.

The facility was built in 2014 at a cost of $82.9 million and has a production capacity of 45,000 m³/d. But the plant operation was halted when Gijang residents claimed that seawater could have been contaminated by a nearby nuclear power complex. In 2019, Busan intended to use the desalination plant to produce industrial water, however the plan was scrapped as it was cheaper and more convenient to use existing water pipelines. (Aju Business Daily)

CHILE – The second-largest desalination plant in Chile is being constructed to supply water to the Quebrada Blanca mine in northern Chile’s Tarapaca region. The Quebrada Blanca Phase 2 (QB2) expansion project includes a 165-km water supply pipeline from the company’s own port and a desalination plant with a production capacity of 100,224 m³/d.  The mine operator Teck with a major holding in Quebrada Blanca awarded the engineer and procurement supply contract to IDE Tech. ADRITZ was awarded the order to manufacture and deliver the plant’s process pumps and the centrifuges to treat the brine. (World Pumps)

^{The Quabrada Blanca mine in Chile.  Credit: Mineria Pan-Americana}

PALESTINE – Aqaba Water Company and Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group signed a partnership agreement for the construction of a desalination plant in the Risha region. The facility, in the northern region, is part of the Mediterranean Integrated System for Water Supply (MEDISS) and is estimated to cost $2.92 million, of which Aqaba Water Company will cover 10 percent. Arid Regions Institute-Tunisia, Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group, the Jericho Governorate, the University of Cagliari and the Italian Water Authority of Sardinia will also take part in the project. (Ammon)

INDIA – Metrowater announced it will reduce water purchase from the desalination plants on Nemmeli Road and Minjur until March due to monsoon rain filling the city’s water reservoirs. Before the monsoon, Metrowater was buying 90,000 m³ water from each desalination plant at a cost of $0.55 per m³. Nemmeli has lowered its production capacity with 30,000 m³ and Minjur with 50,000 m³. (The Times of India)

TAIWAN – The deputy director-general of Taiwan’s Water Resource Agency (WRA) revealed the government is adopting several measures to deal with water shortages following a dry year in 2020. The measures include the construction of a desalination plant in Hsinchu with a production capacity of 13,000 m³/d. (Taiwan News)