Sfax desalination plant: an essential infrastructure for local socioeconomic development
- The Sfax desalination plant is an essential infrastructure for Tunisia's growth strategy by definitively ensuring access to drinking water for more than 600,000 inhabitants with an initial capacity of 100,000 m3/day.
- The plant has provided an economic and social boost to the region, creating wealth and jobs during construction and operation, enabling continuous access to water for human consumption and ensuring sustainable development in an area severely affected by water stress.
Located 270km south of Tunisia, the Sfax desalination plant, tendered by SONEDE, is an essential infrastructure for the socioeconomic development of the region by definitively ensuring access to drinking water for more than 600,000 inhabitants.
Tedagua, through its parent company Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios, along with its partners Orascom Construction and Metito Overseas, has executed the construction of a desalination plant with a capacity of 100,000 m3/day and with civil and marine works built for 200,000 m3/day in order to easily undertake a future expansion of double capacity.
The plant consists of a capture tower and two submarine intake pipes of 4,200 meters each, made of PEHD DN1800, which conduct the water to the capture chamber, where mechanical screening and pumping to the desalination plant are carried out. The desalination process includes a two-stage filtration pretreatment using sand and anthracite, followed by two lines of cartridge filters.
The Sfax desalination plant has four reverse osmosis racks equipped with an energy recovery system and a CIP unit for membrane cleaning. Post-treatment includes remineralization with CO2 and calcite beds, as well as chemical treatment with hypochlorite and caustic soda. The treated water is stored in a 25,000 m³ tank and pumped for distribution. The resulting brine is disposed of through a 3,200-meter submarine outfall in PEHD DN1800. The entire operation is powered by a two-line electrical substation integrated within the plant, thus ensuring efficient and sustainable operation.
The construction of this infrastructure has contributed to creating local jobs during the construction and operation of the plant following Tedagua's policy of social integration in all its operations. Additionally, continuous access to treated water for human consumption has generated great social acceptance in an area that has been severely affected by water stress and lack of access to water.
During October 2024, the completion of construction led to the Operation and Maintenance period of the plant that will extend over the next two years, ensuring access and supply of drinking water to Tunisia's second-largest city before being transferred to SONEDE.
This reference adds to other projects carried out by Tedagua in the country such as wastewater treatment plants for the populations of Bizerte and Nabeul. Furthermore, the start of O&M at the Sfax desalination plant strengthens the company's international presence within the water infrastructure management market, currently active in more than 20 countries.
Tedagua, together with its parent company Grupo Cobra, once again reaffirms its commitment to access to water availability, sustainable management, and sanitation as a fundamental human right, currently meeting the demands of more than 20 million inhabitants in water supply and purification.