World News

Aqualia Begins Operations in Peru with a Wastewater Treatment Project in Chincha Province

asianwater
  • The company has been awarded the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a wastewater treatment system in Chincha (Peru), which will directly benefit 345,000 people.
  • The initiative, which involves an investment of EUR92 million, was declared of interest in October 2024 by ProInversión, the Peruvian agency for the promotion of private investment.
  • The new infrastructure will reduce diseases caused by untreated wastewater, improving public health and the quality of life for residents of the affected districts. Additionally, the project will enhance the circular economy in the area, as the reuse of treated water will provide a new source of water for agricultural and/or industrial use in a region currently experiencing significant water stress.

Aqualia, the end-to-end water cycle management company, begins its operations in Peru after years of market research to bring its expertise and knowledge to the Andean country. The company has been selected for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Chincha, a province located 200 kilometres south of Lima, in the Ica department.

The main objective of the project is to provide adequate treatment and supply of wastewater generated in seven districts of Chincha province (Chincha Alta, Chincha Baja, Grocio Prado, Pueblo Nuevo, Alto Larán, Sunampe, and Tambo de Mora). Once operational, the plants will improve the quality of life for 345,000 residents in the region.

As the project contractor, Aqualia will execute and operate approximately 21 kilometres of main collection networks and pumping lines, a pumping station, the wastewater treatment plants included in the project, and 7.7 kilometres of lines for the final disposal of treated water. The concession period is 24 years in total: the first four years for design, financing and construction, and the remaining twenty years for operation and maintenance.

ProInversión, the Peruvian agency for the promotion of private investment, has been responsible for seeking private partners interested in building the wastewater treatment plant under a public-private partnership model. The initiative, worth EUR92 million (excluding VAT), was declared of interest by ProInversión in early October 2024 and, after the transaction phase, awarded to Aqualia.

This concession represents a breakthrough for public-private partnerships in the sanitation sector, which has been awaiting the development of wastewater treatment infrastructure for six years.” Salardi noted that “the Chincha WWTP is part of a portfolio of eight sanitation projects worth more than EUR1.5 billion that ProInversión will promote in 2025.

José Salardi, Executive Director of Aqualia

Benefits for People and the Environment
The new infrastructure will reduce diseases caused by untreated wastewater, improving public health and the quality of life for residents of these districts. Additionally, by adequately treating wastewater, water body contamination will be prevented, eliminating negative environmental impacts. The project will also enhance the circular economy in the area, as the reuse of treated water will provide a new source of water for agricultural and/or industrial use in a region currently experiencing significant water stress.

Finally, the project will help boost the economic development of the Chincha region by generating employment during construction, operation and maintenance, and the improvement in sanitation infrastructure will attract investments, strengthening the regional economy.

This operation marks the beginning of Aqualia’s operational activities in Peru, thus consolidating its presence in the American continent. Aqualia currently manages the end-to-end water cycle in 8 departments in Colombia, serving 1.4 million inhabitants in 32 municipalities. The company has developed the Salitre WWTP project in Bogotá, which serves more than 3 million people. In Mexico, Aqualia operates in all phases of the water cycle (collection and supply, treatment and desalination) in different territories. For the past year, Aqualia has also been working on the end-to-end improvement of potable water network management in Los Cabos, in the state of Baja California Sur, one of the most touristy areas of the country. In Chile, Aqualia has been operating an industrial water plant for one of the country’s leading mining companies for 10 years. In the United States, the company has been managing water in the metropolitan area of Houston, Texas, since January 2024.

Aqualia is the water management company owned by the citizen services group FCC (51%) and the ethical Australian fund IFM Investors (49%). The company is the fourth largest water company in Europe by population served and the ninth largest in the world, according to the latest Global Water Intelligence ranking (December 2024). It currently serves more than 45 million users and operates in 18 countries: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Chile, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Spain, United States, France, Georgia, Italy, Mexico, Oman, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Czech Republic and Romania.