A temporary joint venture formed by two companies of the Ferrovial group, Ferrovial-Agroman and Cadagua, as well as Tinerfeña de Obras Públicas (TOP) is carrying out an important project in Tenerife. Specifically, these companies will execute the works of the Granadilla Seawater Desalination plant, which will radically change the use of water in this area. The project has a budget of 16 million euros.
It is expected that this plant will produce 14,000 cubic meters of water per day in its first phase and that its capacity will be expanded to 21,000 cubic meters each day. In addition, a third phase called "future" is contemplated, in which the capacity will be increased to 42,000 cubic meters of water per day. In this way, the supply of drinking water to the municipalities in the area will be guaranteed.
The works carried out by the temporary joint venture are located in the south of the island of Tenerife, specifically, in the region that extends from Montaña Guaza to the nuclei of the municipality of Arico de La Java and Las Listadas. This includes the municipalities of Arico, Granadilla, San Miguel and Arona.
According to the promoters, these works are of "vital importance" for this area. "The vacation offer of the area, both hotel and extra-hotel, means that there is a great demand for water with a minimum guaranteed quality, both in normal conditions and in times when the tourist occupancy is maximum", says the Works Manager, Fernando Campos.
All this has raised problems in the supply for some time, with regard to availability, the need to transport water from other areas of the island, as well as the construction of public and private tanks and networks or the exploitation of resources by different communities. And this has resulted in water with "very irregular, and in some cases, deficient" qualities.
This situation had been worsening for years and has caused a notable "concern in the competent public authorities that, by themselves, cannot cope with a definitive solution to the problem", as explained in the project report.
The works begin
For all these reasons, the competent administrations proposed in October 2005 the construction of a seawater desalination plant that aimed to guarantee the high-quality water supply, as well as allow the underground resources of the area to be used more rationally.
This project aims to achieve a better exploitation of the aquifers and the recovery of their quantity and quality levels. These works are promoted by the Ministry of Public Works of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the Hydraulic Works Agreement, and are financed by the Ministry of the Environment.
The temporary joint venture formed by Cadagua, Ferrovial Agroman and TOP was awarded this project on May 5, 2010. It should be noted that the Ferrovial group is a world leader in the design, construction and operation of all types of infrastructure and, specifically, Ferrovial Agroman and Cadagua are specialists in large-scale hydraulic projects.
For the moment, the temporary joint venture has already started working on the ground. "We are working on the pipes from the desalination plant to the head tank, as well as on the tank itself. On the other hand, in the Desalination Plant we are already building water catchment wells", explains the Works Manager Fernando Campos.
According to Campos, the water process is as follows: "The water produced in the desalination plant is pumped to the head tank, from where the distribution is made and distributed to the different municipalities", he says.
Overexploited aquifers
The work that the Ferrovial group will carry out together with the local company Tinerfeña de Obras Públicas will mean the "resolution of the deficiencies that exist in terms of quantity and quality of water". "Given the overexploitation of the aquifers, there are problems in the area and this project will solve them decisively. The work is included in the Hydrological Plan of Tenerife and is classified as being of general interest", defends Campos.
"We must take advantage of the resource we have, the sea, which is fundamental for the Canary Islands, given the problems that exist with water in the Archipelago. In the Islands we depend on groundwater, on the collection of water from wells, but the aquifers are overexploited, they have lost a lot of water, and also quality", indicates the Works Manager.
For the moment, citizens have not noticed these deficiencies because in Tenerife this problem has been alleviated with the construction of two other desalination plants. In one of them, the project was also led by Ferrovial and Fernando Campos also worked on it. Specifically, they built the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Desalination Plant.
Set of actions
As Campos indicates, the temporary joint venture will not only undertake the construction of this desalination plant, but also, in order to put the plant into operation, it has to carry out a set of actions. Thus, it will have to collect seawater and, for this, it will build collection wells, install seawater pumping units and a collector.
In addition, it must address the pretreatment phase, which is based on the dosage of chemical reagents, sand filtration, the installation for filter washing and rubber filters.
To desalinate the water, this temporary joint venture must include in the project high-pressure pumps with energy recovery, reverse osmosis racks and the equipment necessary for the movement and chemical cleaning of the desalination racks.
Likewise, this project will also have auxiliary equipment, such as the pneumatic installation and service water network, lifting mechanisms and fire-fighting equipment.
Fernando Campos is proud to be part of this great hydrological project. "It is a challenge for me, because it is a very important work. From a personal point of view, it is very gratifying, because this type of work is very unique", he points out, while emphasizing the modernization of this type of plant.
At the forefront
"The Desalination Plant is equipped with the latest technologies, with all the processes and equipment planned that are up to date. It is an avant-garde desalination plant", indicates Campos, who assures that this "will cause the energy performance in the plant to be optimal, something important in desalination because the cost of desalinated water is very high". "The consumption of a desalination plant is very large, it is impossible to use only sustainable energies, it is very important that the operating costs are the minimum so that the cost of the cubic meter of water paid by the citizen is as low as possible", says this Works Manager, who now has 27 months ahead to complete this great project.
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