Barcelona-Llobregat, Spain

What is it?

A 200,000m³/d seawater reverse osmosis plant serving metropolitan Barcelona.

Who is responsible?

The EPC contract was carried out by a joint venture of Degrémont, Agbar, DRACE medioambiente and Dragados. Degrémont supplied the equipment, with Hydranautics supplying the membranes. ERI provided the energy recovery devices. The client is Aigües Ter Llobregat (ATLL).

What makes it special?

• The low point in Barcelona’s water resourcing strategy came in 2008, when an extended drought forced the city to import water by ship at a prohibitive unit cost. The commissioning of the Llobregat desalination plant will go a long way to ensuring local water independence - the facility will supply 20% of the city’s drinking water needs.

• At 200,000m³/d, the Llobregat desalination plant is the largest seawater RO facility in Europe. In spite of this, the plant was designed and constructed within two years of the contract signing.

• The proximity of the plant’s location to both Barcelona Harbour and the Llobregat River required innovative thinking on where to site the intake and outfall pipes. A deep intake pipe 3.5km south of the plant draws feedwater to the surface, from where it is pumped north to the desal plant. The brine concentrate is blended with treated effluent from the Baix Llobregat wastewater plant before being disposed of 3km offshore.