New plants to treat wastewater in response to water stress
Algeria has announced a hydraulic project in response to water stress which involves the construction of 16 new wastewater treatment plants. The wastewater treated by these plants will be reused in various sectors of activity, notably agriculture.
The future wastewater treatment plants to be built as part of the Multiannual National Action Plan are expected to increase resilience to Algeria’s growing water stress. According to a study, Algeria is one of the leading states most exposed to this phenomenon in the world.
According to the country’s national sanitation office, the construction of 16 wastewater treatment plants will make it possible to increase the quantity of wastewater treated in Algeria by 140 million m3 per year. Currently, this North African country has a treatment capacity of 1.16 billion m3 of wastewater per year.
Among the sectors that will benefit from this project is agriculture, which consumes more than 70% of the country’s water resources. In Algeria, water stress also affects households, which see their taps dry up, as well as livestock farming, tourism, etc.
In addition to preserving water resources, the proliferation of water treatment plants in Algeria accelerates the depollution of lakes and the sea, where untreated effluent generally ends up, causing a deterioration in water quality and the loss of biodiversity