Mactan eyed site of desalination plant

Japanese consultants chose Mactan Island to be the site the multi-billion-peso desalination plant that would answer the demand of big industries there for water.

During the presentation of the feasibility study at the Metro Cebu Water District yesterday, Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., Ltd. said it chose the "most critical area" when it comes to demand for water.

MCWD has requested for a feasibility study, on its proposed desalination plant, to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. The study was entrusted to TEPSCO that conducted the study last April.

MCWD general manager Armando Paredes said Mactan has a big need for water with a total consumption of 37 cubic meters a day, 13,000 cubic meters of which is consumed by big industries.

Based on estimates, the construction cost of the project alone amounts to at least P1 billion, including the facilities for pre-treatment, P250 million; reverse osmosis, P600 million; and post treatment, P150 million.

Operating and maintenance cost of the plant would also amount to P93 million a year for power, P32 million for chemical dosing, P11 million for reverse osmosis element and P.7 million for safety filter.

Shiraishi Masayuki, team leader of the group that conducted the study, said that the 15,000-cubic-meter a day of desalinated water that would be produced by the plant would be enough to supply the needs of 13,000-cubic-meter a day at the Mactan Export Processing Zones I and II. Water price is estimated to be at P68.03 per cubic meter in 2009 when the plant starts operating.

Seawater would be taken from Hilutungan channel through intake pipes that are 100 meters offshore from the coastline and 10-meter deep in the sea and would be processed through reverse osmosis method.

The pipe, where brine or byproduct of the plant would be discharged, is also about 600m offshore from the coastline in 10m deep to effectively diffuse and dilute brine. - Wenna A. Berondo and Cristina C. Birondo