BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO, AUGUST 29, 2016 -- A public-private partnership for a project in northern Rosarito Beach, Mexico, was signed recently, paving the way for the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere to be built.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that at full build-out, the reverse osmosis facility would produce 100 million gallons of water per day. The goal of the project is to reduce the Tijuana-Rosarito Beach region’s heavy dependence on the Colorado River, but some of the water generated from this project could eventually be sent via pipeline to the Otay Water District in San Diego County.
The Union Tribune reported that the partnership names NSC Agua, a Mexican company and subsidiary of consolidated Water, as the builder of the plant. NSC Agua would "build the plant in two phases and operate it for 37 years before turning it back to the state," according to the Baja California Secret ariat of Infrastructure and Urban Development. The plant’s first phase would launch in late 2019 or early 2020 and produce 50 million gallons a day. Under the second phase in 2024, the plant’s capacity would double.
The other two partners in the project are NuWater of Singapore and the French company Degremont.
The next steps involve drafting final construction documents and securing financing for the project, whose estimated cost is more than $490 million. Total construction time is estimated at about three years.
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