Senegal on May 31 started construction of the country’s first desalination plant to alleviate chronic water shortages in the capital Dakar.
Workers install pipes for a water desalination plant in Mamelles, Dakar. Image: Charlotte Idrac
During a groundbreaking ceremony in the Mamelles district of Dakar on Tuesday, Senegalese President Macky Sall called it “a complex and unprecedented project”, marking an important stage in the construction of the facility. ambitious infrastructure to elevate Senegal to emerging economy status by 2035.
The coastal plant will desalinate water from the Atlantic Ocean, with a maximum capacity of 100,000 m3 per day. The project will require renovating more than 300 km of water pipelines.
When in operation, the project can supply fresh water to 16 districts of Dakar with a population of more than one million people. This not only increases the production capacity of clean water in Dakar, but also helps to conserve groundwater for future generations in Senegal.
The capital Dakar is located on a peninsula at the westernmost tip of the African continent with a rapidly growing population. The city now gets most of its fresh water from Lake Guiers, 250 kilometers to the north.
The long-planned water desalination project in the Mamelles has been delayed until now due to fierce opposition from environmentalists and local fishermen.
They criticized the project as too expensive and potentially risky for the environment. Desalination plants are energy intensive, which would drive climate change if they were operated on fossil fuels. The process of removing salt and then releasing it into the sea also leads to the creation of toxic salt water, which can wreak havoc on coastal ecosystems.
Doan Duong (Follow AFP/RFI)
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