Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded USD 55 million Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Desalination Plant the first ever in the entre ADB operation, commissioned at Thalaiyady is set to benefits 300,000 people within Jaffna District addressing the serious clean water scarcity issue prevalent in the Jaffna peninsula with 60,000 to 80,000 connections. In addition to the capital cost the contract amount is USD 49 million. Thereby ADB has provided USD 210 million in total for the water project in the peninsula.
The contract for Design, Build, Operation and Transfer a Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) Desalination Plant of 24,000 cubic meter per day Capacity at Thalaiyady, Jaffna District was awarded to M/s Suez International on January 25, 2021 and agreement signed on February 23, 2022. The Contract commenced on March 8 2021 and successfully completed by September 11, 2024 in accordance with prudent engineering practices using design and construction methods, technologies and criteria, which are in compliance with all applicable codes and regulatory requirements. Operation of the plant commenced on October 14, 2024. The works include design, procurement, construction, installation and operation & maintenance of Water Treatment Plant and all associated permanent and temporary works to provide a fully functional, environmentally compliant and reliable facility over the entire 7 years of Operation and Maintenance Period and transfer to NWSDB. An ocean intake structure for source seawater collection has been located more than 800 meters from the shore and more than 1,300 meters from the site boundary of the SWRO Desalination Plant. The Seawater Intake System is comprised of offshore intake structure, grilles and arrangements to minimize any adverse impact to the local fishing community; by minimizing entrainment by location of the grilles away from sensitive marine habitats and by generously sizing the intake grilles so that the inlet velocity is kept low and it allows small fish to swim back without getting sucked into the intake conduit or pipe. In order to minimize environmental impacts from the plant discharge, an offshore outfall arrangement equipped with diffusers installed for discharging brine concentrate and other side streams generated by the desalination process in accordance with Central Environmental Authority (CEA) and Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) regulations. The brine outfall structure is located more than 500 meters from the shore and more than 1,000 meters from the site boundary of the SWRO Desalination Plant. The aim of the diffuser is to ensure that the saline concentrate from the seawater desalination plant disperses quickly and reaches background salinity within an approved mixing zone of around 50 meters from the point of discharge. This will ensure that any potential adverse impact of salinity to the marine species is kept to within 50 metres from the point of discharge. Based on the knowledge gathered from recent modern desalination plants a properly designed diffuser can create a thriving marine environment for most marine species to thrive and create a living biodiversity – where none existed previously.
All activities associated with project implementation including plant design, site preparation, mobilization, construction, start up, commissioning and operation have been executed under supervision of NWSDB.
Source : Daily News