120,000

m3/day

Water for irrigation

Desalination of sea water through reverse osmosis to obtain water for use in irrigation.

At the time of its construction Carboneras was the largest sea water desalination plant constructed in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

General Information

  • Proyect: Carboneras Ocean Water Treatment Plant.
  • Entity: ACUSUR.
  • Location: Carboneras, Almeria. Spain.
  • Population equivalent: 800,000 inhabitants.
  • Capacity: 120,000 m3/day.

Key points

  • The catchment of sea water (sea water intake), is performed using 2 collectors with diameter of 2 metres and 300 metres long, placed on the sea bed.
  • Dosage of sodium hypochlorite for raw water.
  • Pumping of raw water through 14 pumps that provide a flow of 965 m3/h each.
  • Sand filtration through 14 vulcanised horizontal metal filters of 3,000 mm in diameter and 11,000 mm in length.
  • Dispersant / anti-crusting dosage system to avoid possible precipitation of salts in the system.
  • Safety filtration systems composed of 14 horizontal cartridge filters. Each one of these has 12 cartridges of 20 absolute microns.
  • Metabisulphate dosage to neutralise the oxidation agent injected in the previous phase.
  • High pressure pumping and energy recover using 14 turbo-pump groups (12+2 reserve) composed of a pump, motor and Pelton turbine.
  • 12 Frames with a production capacity of 10,000 m3/day formed by 140 pressure tubes and each with 7 aromatic polyamide membranes.
  • 45% conversion.
  • Remineralisation through lime and CO2.
  • Treated water tanks of 2,500 m3 and 16,500 m3.
  • Dilution of the rejected brine with dilution of 4:1 with sea water to avoid any impact on the Posedonia Ocean.

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