Abstract SYMPHOS 2011

To these five important concepts to take into account in the design of a Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant it is
necessary considering and solving all of Environment aspects.
All of them determine the final investment as well as the water operational cost and feasibility of Desalination
Plant; the quality of all of them will give their availability.
Every problem and every plant have a different solution to be implemented to solve these problems at the optimum
cost.
Four Different Desalination cases, builds in the last 5 years, are presented as examples of diverse solutions to solve
different requirements, in 4 continents and from 4 different seas:
1- Coloso R.O. Plant in Antofagasta, Chile, where a desalination plant produces 45,000 m3/day of water to be
used in the second largest copper mine in the world (Minera Escondida Ltda.). The desalination plant is located
in the coast and the produced water is sent at 180 km away at 3000 m height. The water to be treated is one of
the most difficult to treat: water of the Pacific Ocean
2- Al Dur, Power and Desalination plant, in Bahrain. It is the second desalination plant linked to a Power plant
who produces desalted water 100% only by Reverse Osmosis. The Gulf area is well known by the bad quality,
high salinity and temperature. Production is 218,000 m3/day
3- Barcelona-Llobregat Desalination Plant, in Spain, is the largest SWRO in Europe to produce potable water;
200,000 m3/day from the Mediterranean Sea. It is used like a reservoir, for drought periods and designed to
work in the worse conditions with a strong pretreatment. An special solution is taken for the brine discharge
and it has a large photovoltaic park.
4- Perth Desalination Plant, in Western Australia, was the first large plant in this country and the largest in
the Southern hemisphere. It produces 143,700 m3/day of fresh water coming from the South Indian Ocean.
This plant is one the friendliest with the Environment, being the first R.O plant to be fed by energy produced
by a Wind Farm. The brine discharge is followed carefully to avoid any damage to the Bay where is disposed.
All these examples show how different can be a desalination plant to another, having always a solution for every
problem or requirement.
1- Coloso Plant in Chile (Minera Escondida Ltda.)
3- Barcelona Desalination Plant in Spain 4 - Perth Desalination Plant, in Western Australia.
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2- Al Dur, Power and desalination Plant, in Bahrein