ACCIONA has completed the first year of construction of the Arraiján Drinking Water Plant in Panama (official name “PTAP Ing. José G. Rodríguez”). Once completed, the plant will provide a service to 283,000 people in the districts of Arraiján Cabecera, Burunga, Nuevo Emperador, Veracruz, Juan Demóstenes Arosemana, Santa Clara, Cerro Silvestre and Vista Alegre.
It will produce around 150,000 m3 a day of drinking water in the first phase, although the design allows for an increase of up to 227,000 m3 in the future.
During this first year of building work, 32 hectares (79 acres) of land have been decontaminated and 110,000 m3 of earthworks (74%) carried out. In total, 7,000 m3 of concrete have been laid, approximately half of the planned total, 7,000 metres of 1,500-mm diameter piping have been laid and 1.600 tonnes of steel installed.
The project is currently 21% completed.
ACCIONA undertakes the design, construction and operation of the DWTP for 3 years
The Arraiján Drinking Water Treatment Plant, put out to tender by the Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales de Panamá (IDAAN), will help to improve the supply of drinking water to the urban population in the country. This is one of the objectives set out in the “Agua para Todos” (Water for All) National Water Security Plan 2015-2050 implemented by the Government of Panama.
ACCIONA is undertaking the design, construction and operation (for three years) of all the elements that make up the DWTP: catchment, supply line, treatment plant, storage tanks and piping.
The new plant will be equipped with the latest technologies for the treatment, automation and monitoring of the water potabilization process and will incorporate a system of oxidization by ozone, a novelty in the country. Storage tanks with a capacity of 18 MG (68,000 m3) will be built to ensure continuous supplies, together with a 25-kilometre-plus network of 60-inch cast iron piping.
Among other advantages, the plant will improve the present level of water quality, thereby reducing gastrointestinal and skin disorders and guaranteeing more stable supplies at a higher pressure and flow rate 24 hours a day. It will also make a direct contribution to the residential and industrial development of the area, generating both direct and indirect jobs.
