2million
inhabitants served
CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION
Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
Over 2,000 million people in the world live without access to a basic drinking water service, and 3,6 billionhave no access to a basic sanitation service, resulting in avoidable deaths, chronic disease, fewer hours of education and low productivity.
ACCIONA has positioned itself as a key player in the water treatment sector. Its innovative management seeks to resolve the challenges with respect to the shortage of water resources.
CLIMATE ACTION
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
The generation and use of energy accounts for 35 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. This activity is the largest contributor to global warming. Investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low-carbon technologies will continue to be essential to meet the emerging needs of humanity and to minimize their negative impact on the environment.
ACCIONA considers the fight against climate change and its effects to be a strategic priority. The company works to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to the progress of society and respond to the main challenges of sustainable development in the areas of infrastructure, water and energy, leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The Adelaide plant's geographical location on a cliff 52 metres above sea level, along with the environmental measures at the intake site, makes this plant unique in terms of design and construction.
The Adelaide plant is the first in Australia to incorporate advanced pre-treatment using ultrafiltration membranes and a two stage membrane set-up that provides better energy performance and increases treated water recovery.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Location: Port Stanvac, Adelaide, Australia
- Capacity: 300,000 m3/d
- Type of contract: EPC + O&M (20 years)
- Population: 2 million inhabitants
Key aspects and process
Intake
- The sea water intake is composed of a 1.5 km tunnel
- Sodium hypochlorite and sulphuric acid can be closed in the intake minimise biofuiling and to maintain tunnel conditions
- The sea water from the intake is pumped up to a height of 57m using 12 dry chamber pumps with a total capacity of 28,400 m3/h
Pre-treatment
- Solids filtration systems using 24 racks of disc filters
- Ability to add coagulant agents, active carbon and sulphuric acid
- Pretreatment using 28 ultrafiltration submerged membrane cells
- Safety filtration using 20 filter cartridges prior to the RO
- Ability to add antiscalant agent to avoid salt precipitation in the system
- Ability to add sodium metabisulphite to neutralise the oxidising agent added in the intake
- 12 high pressure pumps
Reverse Osmosis
- Energy recovery system using ERI pressure exchangers
- Energy recovery from the saline concentrate output, prior to discharge, using turbines which produce energy using the hydraulic jump between the level of the plant and the sea water
- 20 first pass trains and 20+10 second pass trains which have been technically developed by ACCIONA
- First train production capacity of 15,000m3/day, each made up of 180 pressure vessels, and in each one, 8 reverse osmosis membranes
- Total recovery rate of 48%
- Low energy consumption
Post Treatment
- Remineralisation using lime and CO2
- Disinfection using chlorine and treatment using hydrofluorsilicic acid
- 2 treated water tanks each with a capacity of 25,000m3
Effluent treatment
- Advanced treatment of the pre-treatment wash water
- Neutralization of the membrane cleaning solutions
- Nº of racks:
- 20-1st pass
- 20-2nd front pass
- 10-2nd rear pass
- Water production/rack (1st pass): 15,000 m3 per day
- Nº of passes: 2
- Nº of stages:
- 1 in the 1st pass
- 2 in the 2nd
- Total no. of membranes: 35,520
- Type of membranes (1 load) hydranautic
Key figures
300,000
m3 per day of total capacity
2M
equivalent inhabitants
35,520
membranes
8
pressure tubes
20
years of EPC + O&M contracts
technology and innovation
advanced pre-treatment system
The technology used in the design makes this desalination plant a global benchmark, as it incorporates an advanced pre-treatment system using ultrafiltration membranes and a double pass system through reverse osmosis membranes.
This exclusive ACCIONA design provides significant benefits, such as:
- Lower energy consumption
- Lower operation and maintenance costs
- Higher desalinated water production
- A lower environmental impact