The desalination plant at Torrevieja was meant to be operational by Autumn 2008. It was designed to produce 80 hectometres of much needed clean water annually and is the largest plant of this type in Europe. It is now 2011 and the plant is still not open; the reason being that Acuamed, the company that are building it, have had to face many obstacles during construction from both from Torrevieja and the Generalit in Valencia.
First of all the city council did not want the pipes that will bring the water from the sea and take the waste back to the sea to be laid across the town during the summer months when the town would be packed with tourists.
Once summer was over, the work on laying the pipes started again and got as far as the beach where it stopped again. The problem this time was a lack of understanding between the regional and national governments. Acuamed is of course a state owned enterprise operating under the Ministry of Environment and access to the port basin is owned by the regional government in Valencia. Acuamed believe that the charges that Valencia want to make for access to the sea are excessive and so the whole project has ground to a halt whilst this issue is resolved.
The problem for Acuamed now is that, because the plant has been inoperative for so long, the electronic equipment may be damaged. The membranes that are used for the reverse osmosis process have a finite life and may need to be replaced even though they have not passed a drop of water.
An even bigger problem that they face is the fall in demand for water from the housing sector in the area which, coupled with the adequate rainfall last winter, has reduced the demand for expensive desalinated water.
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