Potable water is in short supply in many parts of the world

Rivers

Catalonia’s rivers Ebro Llobregat Ter

Barcelona Metropolitan Area

• Population of 3,2 millions inhabitants

• How much water do you use?

Water consumption: 110 litres/inhabitant/day

We need water

WATER DESALINATION Water is desalinated

in order to convert salt water to fresh water so it is suitable for human consumption

Water desalination in the world

Desalination is an increasingly important practice to secure clean water in a number of countries.

Water desalination in Spain • Spain is the fifth

largest number of desalination plants in the world with a total of 900 plants with a capacity of 1.45 million cubic meters per day

• The first desalination plant in Spain was built in 1965 in Lanzarote

Desalination plants in Catalonia

• The Catalan Water Agency works with the aim of making more water available and to guarantee its supply through diverse measures that include aquifer recovery, reuse, conservation, improvements in water and desalination.

To this end, since 2002, the Tordera desalination plant, located in Blanes, has been in operation

Llobregat desalination plant

• In summer 2009 the Llobregat desalination plant became operational

• The largest desalination plant in Europe dedicated to urban supply

• This facility can serve 4.5 million inhabitants and can produce up to 60 hm3 of water per year (200 million litres of water per day). . This supply will represent nearly 24% of the city's water consumption.

Llobregat desalination plant

Its opening made it possible to increase the guarantee and availability of water in the Barcelona metropolitan area Improvement in water quality and taste of the water supplied to the metropolitan area. The Llobregat river has always had a high level of salinity, which is the result of the existence of a natural potassium basin

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Delta

Ebre Delta Llobregat Delta

Nature reserve