Delivering Sustainable Water Security in Arid Patagonia

This plant is notable for being the first seawater desalination facility in Argentina and the first in South America to utilize advanced non-traditional technologies.

Background and Challenges

Puerto Deseado, located in one of the most arid regions of Argentine Patagonia, relies mainly on the fishing and sheep farming industries.

Due to the city's location and limited drinking water availability, residents could only access the public water supply for two hours every other day. The city's water supply came from nearby wells, which often turned saline and produced minimal water over time. This scarcity of drinking water also hindered the development of an industrial park for fishing companies, as there wasn't enough water to support new businesses.

Building the reverse osmosis (RO) plant posed significant logistical challenges. The plant was constructed nearly 1,900 km away from its installation site, requiring extensive efforts to transport materials and deploy technicians and personnel for the assembly and commissioning of the equipment.

Additionally, due to the city's cast iron piping network and the low pH of the RO permeate, a remineralization system was installed to reduce corrosion in the distribution system.

Process Description

The plant was constructed within a traditional building, equipped with all the necessary utilities for its operation and maintenance. It was designed to produce drinking water that meets the requirements of the Argentine Food Code.

The process starts with the intake of raw seawater, which has a salinity of approximately 36,000 ppm. Submersible pumps transfer the seawater to a 5,000 m³ raw water storage tank. From there, the water is sent to a pre-treatment stage, where the water is pre-treated with ultrafiltration membranes and then stored in a filtered water storage tank.

The filtered water is passed through a UV disinfection system before entering the reverse osmosis desalination system. The RO system produces high-quality permeate with a low pH. This permeate is directed to a remineralization system, which adjusts the pH to neutral levels to ensure compatibility with the city's piping network.

Finally, centrifugal pumps transfer the treated water, which has been chlorinated for disinfection, to a drinking water storage tank. From this tank, the water is pumped into the city's distribution network, providing safe drinking water to the residents.

Results

The integration of various pre- and post-treatment technologies enabled the plant to operate safely and efficiently. This plant is notable for being the first seawater desalination facility in Argentina and the first in South America to utilize advanced non-traditional technologies, such as membrane ultrafiltration and UV disinfection for bacteriological control.

The plant is capable of producing up to 3,000,000 liters (793,000 gallons) of drinking water daily.

As the first desalination plant in Argentina, the success of this plant led to the installation of another facility nearby in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz, which has four times the production capacity.

This desalination project brought ample drinking water to a previously water-scarce area, significantly improving the lives of the local community

Inspired by our success in Puerto Deseado? Let Fluence help you overcome water challenges and deliver sustainable water solutions. Contact us today to discuss your project.