Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/907858
20 In Site December 2017 Water. desalination + reuse MEXICO WATER DEMAND MEETS PRIVATE INVESTMENT • Population: 129.2 million • Year-on-year growth: 1.3 per cent • Capital city: Mexico City • City population: 9 million • Metro area full population: 20 million • Key organisations: • National Commission on Water (Conagua) • Comisión Estatal de Servicios Públicos de Tijuana (CESPT) • Key people: • Roberto Ramirez, director general, Conagua • Miguel Lemus Zendejas, director, CESPT Business conditions Mexico's population has increased sixfold since 1960, from 18 million to 129.2 million in 2017 (see graph). The growth has put huge pressure on water resources, particularly in Tijuana and Playas de Rosarito in Baja California peninsula, where rain is scarce. In 2012, the country introduced Asociaciones Publico-Privadas, a new law that provides a framework for public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the federal and state levels. Water sector strategy The federal government's National Commission on Water (Conagua) has a National Water Plan 2014 to 2018. The wide- ranging strategy was conceived to reform legal frameworks, municipal sector management including human resources, and the financial and planning systems, with a view to modernising the sector. Water reuse is high on the agenda with the goal to "reuse all treated wastewater, particularly for agriculture and aquifer recharge," says Miguel Lemus Zendejas, director, CESPT. Key projects A mega desalination plant project for 379,000 m3/d in Playas de Rosarito, in development by Consolidated Water, passed a significant milestone in May. At that point, Otay Water District in California, US, an expected direct or indirect off-taker for the produced water, won a presidential permit to build a pipeline across the border with Mexico. A second PPP desalination plant project for the Baja California region, in San Quintín Valley, Esanada, was awarded to RWL Water in 2015. The contract covers a 21,600m3/d desalination plant and infrastructure, and operations over 30 years. The project cost is pegged at $46.48 million. CHILE CONFLICT OVER WATER RIGHTS • Population: 18.1 million • Year-on-year growth: 0.8 per cent • Capital city: Santiago • Santiago population: 5.7 million • Key organisations: • Ministry of public works (Ministerio de Obras Públicas) • Special committee of water resources and desertification • Directorate General of Water (DGA) • Cochilco, state copper commission • Key people: • Jorge Cantallops, director of studies and policy, Cochilco Business conditions Chile's water sector is characterised by a struggle over water rights between the powerful mining lobby and the general population. Copper mining provides 13 per cent of gross domestic product, and 18 per cent of income tax. In the 1990s, the majority of water utilities became self- financing companies partially managed by the private sector, enabling some modernisation of the water system. By 2016, however, protests over water began taking place in capital city Santiago, where millions of people are regularly without running water for days at a time. The protestors, under the banner Movimiento por la Recuperation del Agua y la Vida, are campaigning against high water tariffs, and calling for water to be brought back into public ownership. Water sector strategy Chile's special committee on water resources and desertification in 2016 proposed reforms to prioritise municipal use over corporate use, and to grant the Directorate General of Water (DGA) new powers. Key projects Cochilco, the state copper commission, forecasts a 400 per cent increase in demand for seawater desalination for mining to 2027, particularly in the arid desert region of Atacama in the north, one of the hottest places on earth. A third of this capacity has already been approved, and at least 13 projects are on the slate. In November, Mitsui & Co and Tedagua won a contract for a 86,400 m3/d desalination plant and associated infrastructure to serve BHP Billiton's Spence Copper mine in Atacama, for 20 years. Also in Atacama, GS Inima and Claro Vicuna Valenzuela won a project with the state-owned utility Econssa in October. The contract is for a 104,000 m3/d seawater desalination plant to serve the populations of Caldera, Chañaral, Copiapó, and Tierra Amarilla. Sixfold increase in Mexico's population The populations of Mexico and Brazil have exploded since the 1960s, intensifying demand on existing water sources. In Mexico, low rainfall in Baja California, and internal economic migration to the region, have added urgency to the water challenge. 200M 180M 160M 140M 120M 100M 80M 60M 40M 20M 0 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 n Brazil n Mexico n Canada