Barcelona, Spain is currently facing a severe drought, and residents are feeling the impact. To address the water scarcity, authorities in the city are planning to install a floating desalination plant in the Port of Barcelona. This plant will have a capacity of 40,000 m3 of water per day and provide a sustainable solution to the city’s water needs.
Previously, Barcelona relied on Europe’s largest desalination plant, Llobregat, but it is unable to meet the current demands due to the prolonged drought. The government believes that floating desalination plants are a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution compared to transporting water from other sources.
The floating desalination plant will be operational if the Catalonia region’s water collection system reaches stage 2 emergency drought status, which is expected before October. In addition to this plant in Barcelona, there will be 12 mobile desalination plants installed in the northern Costa Brava region to meet water supply needs in that area.
The floating desalination plant is expected to produce about 6% of the water consumption in the Barcelona metropolitan area, equivalent to 14 million m3 of water per year. The cost of producing water using this plant is significantly lower than using transport ships, making it an affordable solution for the city.
With increasing temperatures and drought conditions across Europe, it is crucial that sustainable solutions like this floating desalination plant are implemented to help alleviate water shortages and contribute to environmental conservation efforts in cities like Barcelona.