AUSTRALIA – For the first time in seven years, Sydney’s Kurnell desalination plant has resumed operations. Last Sunday dam water levels dropped below the 60% threshold that trigger the plant’s reactivation.  The plant will not deliver actual drinking water until at least April, however, and it will take up to eight months for the plant to reach its maximum capacity of 250,000 m³/d. The plant must stay operational for at least 14 months, and potentially until dam water levels are restored to 70%.^[1]

INDIA – The Construction of...

BRAZIL – ArcelorMittal SA, the largest steel manufacturer in the world, is planning to build a desalination facility at its plant in the eastern state of Espírito Santo. The plant will allow the company to be less dependent on state water utility company Cesan and prevent production cuts at times of water shortage. The company will be picking a firm to build the plant in the next month, with companies from India, the United States, and Spain among those interested.

The plant will have an initial capacity of 12,000 m³/d and can be...

SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi Arabia has awarded a contract to ACWA Power International and Saudi Brothers Commercial Company to build the 600,000 m3/d Rabigh 3 IWP SWRO. The plant will be delivered under a 25-year BOO contract at a water tariff of $0.53/m3.  Commercial operation is set to commence on 31 December 2021. ^[1]

USA – A Sacramento Superior Court judge has rejected a lawsuit requiring a new environmental report for the Poseidon desalination plant proposed for Huntington Beach, California. Three environmental groups filed the...

JORDAN – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Union (EU) are providing support to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation (MWI) to expand the As Samra wastewater treatment facility in Jordan. The EU is making a $34.31 million grant available to co-finance an EBRD investment, which is expected to be signed next year. The investment will enable the facility’s current capacity of 365,000 m³/d to be expanded by 100,000 m³/d.^[1]

PAKISTAN – Members in the upper house of the Parliament have expressed...

SAUDI ARABIA ACWA Power, the Saudi water and energy developer, has been awarded a contract to build the world’s largest independent desalination plant. The plant will be located in Rabigh, on the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast, and will boast a capacity of 600,000 m3/d. ACWA Power submitted the lowest tariff at $0.53/m3 and was chosen to develop Rabigh 3 IWP alongside the Saudi Brothers Commercial Company. The plant will serve the water needs of Makkah and Jeddah. The project has been procured under a 25-year-build-own-operate (BOO) contract...

U.S.A. – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $100 million fund to launch an Energy-Water Desalination Hub to tackle the nation’s water security issues. The Hub will emphasize early stage research and development for energy-sparing and cost-effective desalination technologies. It will also focus on treating non-traditional water sources for multiple end-use purposes.

The DOE will fund one five-year award. The recipient of this award will excel in four technical areas: materials research and development, new processes...

IRAN – Construction of the largest water desalination facility in Iran is now complete. Located in Bandar Abbas, the plant was launched earlier this month in the presence of First Vice President Jahangiri. The facility was funded by the private sector at a cost of $204 million. It will have an initial production capacity of 20,000 m³/d during phase one, and eventually produce 100,000 m³/d.^[1]

EGYPT – The Egyptian government has signed an agreement with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to receive $50 million for the...

USA – The city of Corpus Christi, Texas, is looking to build desalination plants to address the city’s growing demand for water. In 2017 ExxonMobil announced plans to build one of the largest chemical plants north of Corpus Christi. In the first six years of operation the project is projected to inject $50 million into the city’s economy.  This economic growth is expected to meet a growing demand for industrial water.  Several public and private entities are considering plans to build seawater desalination plants to meet...

AUSTRALIA – The Kurnell Desalination Plant is set to be activated later this week due to Sydney’s falling dam levels. Earlier this week water levels were only 0.4 percent above the 60% threshold that triggers the activation order for the plant.

The $1.8 billion plant has been dormant since it was constructed in 2010. It costs $195 million to maintain annually, at a cost of $85 per year per household; and if the plant is turned on this cost will rise to $130 per household.

The plant’s maximum capacity is 250,000 m³/d but it will take months...

INDIA – The State Government of Gujarat is planning to set up the largest desalination plant in the state at Jamnagar, with a capacity of 100,000 m³/d. The state-owned Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited signed an agreement with an Essel Infraprojects/Abeinsa (Abengoa) team to develop the $98.448 million project under a Public Private Partnership. The plant is expected to become operational in 2021 or 2022.^[1]

U.A.E. – The Federal Electricity and Water Authority and MDC Power Holding Company have announced plans to build three new...

U.S.A. – Seven Seas Water is hoping to build a seawater desalination plant on the coast of the city of Port Aransas in Texas. The plant would be designed to have a production capacity ranging from 91,000 to 273,000 m³/day. The company already possesses 16 desalination plants around the world and is currently deliberating whether to build another plant at Harbor Island in Port Aransas. 

Seven Seas Water is already leasing land on Harbor Island and is working on getting the appropriate permits. Some residents of Port Aransas, however, are...

ISRAEL – After an eight-year delay, government officials are making progress with the development of the Sorek B desalination plant. The Ministry of Finance, the Israel Water Authority, and the Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy, and Water Resources recently published the tender documents for the facility. The plant will have a production capacity of 548,000 m³/d and will bring Israel’s total desalinated water production capacity to 2.15 million m³/d.  

Tender documents allow for the possibility of building a private power...

ISRAEL – A special report by the Israeli State Comptroller has claimed that better long-term planning and water management could have averted the country’s current water crisis. The report criticizes failure of the Israeli Water Authority to manage water supplies and to meet a government-mandated target to produce 750 million m³/yr of desalinated water by 2020. At present Israel’s five desalination facilities produce 585 million m³/yr, a shortfall that could produce costs of $300 million per year.^[1]

U.A.E. – The Abu Dhabi...

EGYPT – Fluence’s Egyptian joint venture, International Co. for Water Services & Infrastructure (IWSI), has closed a USD 7.6 million deal for the delivery of three seawater desalination plants for the Egyptian Ministry of Housing. The plants’ combined capacity of 12,000 m³/day will supply water to Egypt’s north, serving communities along the Mediterranean coast. The desalination facilities will consist of 12 Nirobox SW- XL units (pictured), enabling compact localised water treatment solutions in remote regions. In contrast to...

Iran – The Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO) and China’s ZSM Company have signed a deal for the exchange of technical knowledge and the purchase of high-tech reverse osmosis equipment. The agreement will lead to the production of 50,000 desalination membrane filters annually at a specially constructed facility. The factory is expected to be launched within 18 months and will cost USD 24 billion dollars.

Additionally, at the 14^th International Water and Wastewater Exhibition in Tehran, representatives of Iran’s...

SCIENCE – A new study led by the University of New South Wales showed that saline outflow from the Sydney Desalination plant does not harm surrounding marine life. Researchers examined marine life at six underwater locations over a six-year period – during which the Sydney Desalination plant was under construction, operational, and then idle – allowing for the comprehensive examination of the effects of pumping large amounts of hypersaline water into the ocean.  The results of their analysis refute the common belief that high saline...

PHILLIPPINES – The government of Davao Oriental province has proposed using seawater desalination to help the region’s coconut farmers as their plantations suffer the effects of extremely hot weather. 

Davao Oriental’s proximity to the Pacific, and the farmers’ reliance on salt as a fertilizer, suggest that desalination could be a viable option. If the national government supports the plan to establish a desalination plant in the province, it is likely that coconut farmers will spend less on salt importation and benefit from a more...

GHANA – The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has been ordered by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to reduce its tariff by 10% for all its customers. According to the order GWCL has failed to be compliant with tariff decision and regulatory directives relating to the Nungua desalination plant.

In January, GWCL shut down operations at the plant after a long dispute with the government because of the expense of its operations—but it has been charging the cost of operation.  . According to the PURC the 10% tariff reduction...

SAUDI ARABIA – Two desalination plants with a combined cost of $1.06 billion will be constructed in the cities of Al-Khobar and Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdurahman Al-Fadli recently revealed that the desalination units will contribute an additional million cubic meters of water daily to multiple cities in the Eastern Province.  The plants are expected to become operational by the middle of 2021.^[1]

PAKISTAN – Hub Power Company (Hubco) has...

ISRAEL – Concerns have been raised that restrictions on water usage may be required in 2019 if drought conditions persist due to failure to meet desalination targets set out in the country’s strategic emergency plan for tackling water shortages. Five large desalination facilities currently provide 70 percent of the country’s drinking water, with additional plants planned at Sorek and western Galilee.

At present the water scarcity is predominantly affecting the agriculture sector, but if the drought continues wider disruption to the...

AUSTRALIA – Concerns have been raised that Sydney’s Kurnell desalination plant may not be ready for activation if drought conditions persist, as storm damage from December 2015 has not yet been repaired due to a dispute between the private operator and insurer. With Sydney’s water levels currently at 66 percent, activation of the desalination facility may be necessary in 10 weeks if dry conditions persist and bring levels down to 60 percent. When offline, the plant’s maintenance costs $195 million per year.^[1]

IRAQ – The State of Kuwait...

AUSTRALIA – SA Water is planning a new desalination plant with a capacity of 6,000m3/d-9,000m3/d on the Eyre Peninsula. In July 2018, the Minister for Environment and Water announced completion of the purchase of 60 hectares of land near Sleaford Bay for the construction of the plant, which is likely to begin within two years. Government officials have reported that the suitable environmental planning measures will be followed and that a community engagement program will enable local residents to be involved with the project’s development.^...

AUSTRALIA – Sydney’s Kurnell desalination plant may come back online for the first time in five years as reservoir levels approach 60 percent—the threshold at which the plant will once again become operational.

The desalination plant was completed in 2010 in response to the country’s worst drought in 100 years—which had Sydney’s dam levels reach as low as 34 percent. The plant went offline in 2012 when dam levels reached 98 percent and has since been in maintenance and care mode. Veolia Water Australia operates the plant under a 20-year...

OMAN – A consortium comprised of JGC Corporation (Japan), United Infrastructure Development Company (Oman) and Doosan Heavy (Korea) has won a contract to build, own and operate the 80,000m3/d Asilah independent water project (IWP) desalination plant in Al Sharqiyah. The project company, Al Asilah Desalination Company, is 75% owned by JGC, 20% by United Infrastructure, and 5% by Doosan. Doosan Heavy will serve as the contractor for the project, which is expected to start operations in 2021. Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) will...

INDIA – Tata Steel’s civic utility wing Jusco is in the process of commissioning a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) unit in Jamshedpur. The Rs 25 crore ($3.6 million) project uses UF, RO and evaporation treatment stages to will supply treated wastewater for industrial and horticultural purposes. Located at Bara in Jamshedpur, Jharkand State, the plant can treat up to 30,000m3/d of industrial and municipal wastewater.

The UF and RO treatment stages at the Bara plant are already in operation, with the ZLD component set to commence operation in the...

BAHAMAS – Fluence Corporation has revealed that it has secured a deal to operate the company’s first desalination plant in the Bahamas on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis. The deal is for the supply and installation of three Fluence NIROBOX units at Rav Bahamas’ Resorts World Property. The NIROBOX desalination units are already built and have a capacity of 3,000 m³/d. Fluence will supply water to the resort and the surrounding community of North Bimini.^[1]

OMAN – The Barka Desalination Company has announced the opening of...

SAUDI ARABIA – The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) has signed an agreement to procure three floating desalination units set up on barges to provide a total capacity of 150,000 m³/d drinking water over a period of 20 years. Each floating desalination plant will have a capacity of 50,000 m³/d. The barges will be able to be moved and stationed part of the country in case of an urgent water shortage.  The floating desalination units will become operational in 15 months and will initially supply the Jazan and Asir provinces.^[1]

...

IRAN – The water desalination facility of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan Province will complete its first development phase in July, according to the governor general of the province.  The plant will initially produce 20,000 m³/day and eventually reach a capacity of 100,000 m³ per day.  Since 2014 a total of twenty desalination units with capacities of 30,000 m³/d have been constructed in the province. An additional fifteen units with capacities of 20,000 m³/d are still under construction.^[1]

SINGAPORE – The Tuas III...

UAE – The Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA) of UAE has selected a consortium led by ACWA Power and Tecton Engineering and Construction as the preferred bidder for the 204,574 m³/d Umm Al Quwain desalination project.  The project. FEWA will now begin a final round of contract discussions and aims to conclude the financial close in the third quarter of 2018.^[1]

USA – The Department of Energy (DOE) will award $21 million to new projects to advance solar-thermal desalination technologies. The funding will be distributed...

MEXICO – After months of delay, the Ensenada desalination plant in Baja California is set to begin operations in early July. The $42.9 million plant will provide 21,600 m³ of water per day to the local population.^[1] 

INDIA – Chennai is expected to run out of groundwater by 2020, according to Niti Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index. At the moment more than 200,000 to 300,000 m³ of groundwater is extracted—and with excessive extraction, there is considerable risk that the water will turn saline.

This pressure on limited...