14 SDEM contribuent à hauteur de 18 % à l’approvisionnement des citoyens en eau potable

14 SDEMs contribute 18% to the supply of drinking water to citizens

Desalination of sea water

The Development Director of Algerian Energy Company (AEC), Sonatrach subsidiary, Sofiane Zamiche, indicated yesterday Wednesday in Algiers that the reception of the five additional seawater desalination plants (SDEM) will ensure a rate of 42% coverage of the country’s needs in terms of drinking water supply. Projects that are part of the commitments of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, aimed at alleviating water stress.
“Before the end of the current year, the needs of this precious liquid of a population of 15 million will be covered,” he said.
Speaking on the airwaves of Channel I of the National Radio, where he was the guest of the show L”invité du matin”, Sofiane Zamiche announced that these SDEMs being built in the wilayas of Boumerdès, Oran, Bejaïa, El Tarf and Tipasa, will be put into service with a capacity of 300,000 m3 per day for each station. “With the entry into production of these 5 stations by the end of 2024, the total production capacity of desalinated water in Algeria will be increased to 3.7 million m3/day, i.e. a rate of 42% of coverage of the country’s needs in terms of drinking water supply in order to preserve groundwater,” he said.
Before the emergency seawater desalination program initiated by the public authorities in July 2021, observed the Development Director of Algerian Energy Company (AEC), a Sonatrach subsidiary, it was decided to carry out 11 SDEMs on the coast with an overall production capacity of this precious liquid of 2.1 m3 / d. These, he said, should contribute 17% to the supply of drinking water to the population.
So far, he continued, we have fourteen stations in operation that contribute 18% to the supply of drinking water to citizens, which is equivalent to 2.25 million cubic meters per day in total capacity. Noting that the technology adopted in Algeria is the same as that adopted internationally, and the positive points of this technology lie in the fact that it does not consume much energy compared to other technologies.
It should be noted that unlike previous projects carried out in partnership with foreign companies, this program for the implementation of these 5 SDEMs is supported in terms of construction, studies and engineering by national skills, since it is carried out by subsidiaries of the Sonatrach and Cosider groups.
“Algeria thus becomes the first African country and the third Arab country, after Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to produce water using the desalination technique,” said the President of the Republic, who also requested the use of dams up to 20%, groundwater at an equal rate and desalination plants for the remainder, in order to preserve national strategic water reserves.
Rabah M.