In addition to the five (5) seawater desalination stations currently being built in Oran, Tipasa, Boumerdes, Béjaïa and El Tarf, seven (7) new stations will be built during the period 2025-2030 in the wilayas of Tlemcen, Mostaganem, Tizi Ouzou (2 stations), Chlef, Jijel and Skikda.
This was announced this Thursday in Algiers by the Minister of Hydraulics, Taha Derbal, who spoke during a hearing on water security held by the National Defense Committee of the Popular Assembly. national (APN).
The minister revealed that the projects to connect the five (5) desalination stations currently under construction to the distribution networks had been launched and that they will be operational at the end of 2024, in parallel with the commissioning of these stations.
Mr. Derbal indicated that these large stations with a production capacity of 300,000 m3/day being built in Cap-blanc (Oran), Fouka 2 (Tipasa), Cap-Djenat 2 (Boumerdes), Bejaïa and El Tarf , were experiencing an accelerated pace of completion, adding that these systems will be operational in parallel with the commissioning, at the end of 2024, of these stations.
The launch of these stations will make it possible to increase the rate of use of desalinated sea water to 42% of the total volume of drinking water compared to the current rate estimated at 18%, explains the minister, who after recalling that the The State had released a significant envelope for this program, the minister indicated that the creation of these stations aimed to guarantee the supply of coastal wilayas with drinking water as well as the wilayas located 150 km from these stations.
In addition to these projects currently being finalized, Mr. Derbal recalled the program for the construction of 7 new seawater desalination stations for the period 2025/2030 in the wilayas of Tlemcen, Mostaganem, Tizi Ouzou (2 stations), Chlef, Jijel and Skikda, emphasizing the importance of creating these stations in such a way as to ensure the supply of drinking water to the inhabitants of these wilayas, as well as all the wilayas located 150 km from these infrastructures
The minister considered that the desalination of sea water to support the supply of citizens with drinking water, in light of the low rainfall due to climate change, was the best choice to make to achieve water security given that it is a sustainable source, unlike conventional resources, highlighting that the country’s coastal strip favored the realization of these projects.
And to add that Algeria was a pioneer in this field, through the construction of several desalination stations, citing the seawater desalination stations of El Mactaa (W. Oran) of Fouka (W. Tipasa ) and El Hamma (W. Algiers).
The minister also praised the role of national public companies, responsible for the construction of these stations and water transfer systems, adding that “these projects are now carried out by 100% Algerian skills, while this technology was previously monopolized by certain foreign companies.
He considered, in this sense, that the construction of these stations by Algerian companies contributed to the promotion of the national implementation tool, in addition to strengthening national sovereignty in its aspect relating to water security.
The minister also underlined the need to reuse this water in the industrial and agricultural sectors, especially since the latter consumes more than 70% of the water mobilized annually, irrigating 1.5 million hectares of agricultural land.
He also cited a national plan for the reuse of purified wastewater, presented by his ministerial department during a council of ministers, recalling that the President of the Republic had ordered to begin the implementation of this plan to achieve a reuse of 60% of purified water in agriculture and industry.
For his part, the president of the ad-hoc commission welcomed the efforts made by the national authorities to ensure water security, referring to the urgent solutions put in place to deal with the phenomenon of drought, consisting of construction of drilling and artesian wells in addition to major seawater desalination programs.
