Tedagua will build a new intake for the Changuinola drinking water treatment plant in Panama
The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Panama has recently authorized the contract entered into between the National Council for Sustainable Development (CONADES) -an institution overseen by the Panama Ministry of Presidency- and Consorcio Aguas de Bonyic, led by Tedagua in partnership with Joca Ingeniería y Construcciones. The contract, with a budget of 12 million dollars, involves the performance of the detailed engineering, construction, operation and maintenance for one year of the necessary infrastructure for a new raw water intake facility for the El Silencio drinking water treatment plant in Changuinola, province of Bocas del Toro (Panama).
In addition to having a high energy consumption, the current water intake facility setup on the Teribe river is prone to collecting significant amounts of sediments, being also highly vulnerable to the water level changes experienced by the river flow -especially during the dry season. These circumstances imply a significant reduction in the raw water intake driven to the treatment plant at certain times.
The works stipulated in this contract will include a new surface water intake with a desanding system in Quebrada Bonyic, which will lead to a ductile cast iron pipeline with a length of over 11 km, which connects to the current pipeline that feeds the treatment plant. An essential design requirement is for the new system to be completely gravity-fed, avoiding any solution that requires the installation of pumping stations, with the resulting energy and maintenance savings.
With this new contract, Tedagua consolidates its presence in Panama, where it is already constructing the Gamboa drinking water treatment plant, which will bolster the drinking water supply to the capital city. Grupo Cobra, the main group of the ACS industrial division, has had a presence in the country for 18 years and is the main contractor to Naturgy and ENSA -the two electric power distribution companies of Panama. It has also built several hydroelectric power plants with a total output of 240 MW in the province of Chiriqui and the 270 MW Penonomé wind farm, in addition to having partnered with other consortiums for works such as the Metro Line 1 and the extension of the Corredor Norte highway of Panama City.