Criteria and procedure for selecting a site for a desalination plant

Desalination plant site selection is very vital for the design, financing construction and operation of desalination plants under a public private partnership or a Turnkey basis. The site, comprised of inland and offshore parts, (i) must be located in a place where access and interconnections to the power supply grid, (or independent power production) and to the water supply networks are technically and economically feasible, (ii) the area extent and shape (size and geometry) must be the appropriate so that the marine intake head structures, the marine pipelines, the inland pit the seawater pumping station, the inland pipelines, the main facility structures, the post treatment system, the product delivery sub-system, and the power supply system (IPP or national grid substation) are adequately accommodated and optimally located so that civil, electrical, piping interconnections and other works costs are minimized, (iii) be suitably located in a marine environment where adequate quantity of feed water with a reasonable good, uniform and steady quality of feed seawater is abstracted at a reasonable cost, (iv) be at a location where the brine, backwash wastewater and other wastes are disposed without environmental adverse effects, (v) geologically and topographically are suitable for the construction and erection of the various structures at reasonable costs, (vi) environmental, town planning and rural planning regulations, law requirements and restrictions are met, (vii) the desalination plant shall have the social acceptance of the neighboring communities and other authorities and finally (viii) the local taxes are not prohibitive and the existing infrastructure shall make easier and cheaper the project implementation.This paper presents and analyses the site needs to accommodate a desalination plant, the need for the early site selection, the identification of the concerned partners, the composition and set up of the special committee, the terms of reference to the special committee, the criteria that should be taken into consideration, the time period, and the procedure to be followed for the selection of the most appropriate site. The selection of a technically, economically, environmentally and socially accepted site shall reduce the risks involved in the design, construction, the operation and maintenance of the project and generally decrease the unit cost of water.