Treated wastewater: Milestone of 100 million cubic meters per year
Faced with the challenges facing the water sector and the need to rationalize and optimize the use of financial resources, an action plan has been implemented to reuse treated wastewater. The aim is to reuse it for irrigation of golf courses, green spaces and industrial uses. This plan is part of the National Drinking Water Supply and Irrigation Program for the 2020-2027 period. The goal is to achieve 100 million cubic meters per year of treated wastewater by 2027. Up to the end of 2023, projects carried out within this framework have reused around 37 million cubic meters of wastewater per year. The rate of wastewater treatment in urban areas has reached 57.5%, thanks to the construction of 188 wastewater treatment plants, according to a Ministry of the Interior document.
Major projects are concentrated mainly in Marrakech, Agadir, Rabat, Tangiers, and Tetouan. They involve the reuse of treated wastewater to irrigate golf courses and green spaces. There are also projects developed by the OCP Group for industrial uses. By 2024, there will be no fewer than 28 projects to reuse treated wastewater for watering golf courses and green spaces, as well as an industrial project in the Marsa commune of Laâyoune. The total cost of these projects was 2.8 billion dirhams (USD 280 million), of which 1.2 billion dirhams (USD 120 million) was mobilized via the Liquid and Solid Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Fund. The list of projects includes those currently being finalized or implemented. They concern the landscaping of green spaces in cities such as Rabat, Salé, Témara, Skhirat, Harhoura, Casablanca, Tangiers, Kénitra, Tétouan, Marrakech, Essaouira, and Sidi Bouknadel. The estimated cost is 1.18 billion dirhams (USD 118 million).
Other projects are also planned. These include the irrigation of green spaces and golf courses in the municipalities of Oujda, Mohammedia, Settat, Laâyoune, Dakhla, El Jadida, Fez, and Ifrane. Also on the list are M’diq, Tangiers – Asilah, Kénitra, Benslimane, Bouznika, El Haouzia, Biougra, Errachidia, Ouarzazate, Saïdia, and Béni Ansar. The budget earmarked for this program amounts to 1.68 billion dirhams (USD 168 million). Financing and implementation agreements are currently being validated and signed between these local authorities and the other partners involved. These projects will make it possible to reuse around 74 million cubic meters of treated wastewater per year, according to the Department of the Interior.
Resources for industrial activities
Four projects are currently underway for industrial use, in partnership with OCP, in the towns of Safi, Fquih Ben Salah and Béni Mellal, and with a mining company in Greater Agadir, at a total cost of 1.5 billion dirhams (USD 150 million).
Similarly, in 2024, two new projects have been planned in coordination with the parties concerned. These are the watering of the Ghazala golf course in Benslimane and the royal golf course and green spaces in Meknes, at a total cost of 145.6 million dirhams (USD 15 million). There is also a project to reuse treated wastewater for industrial purposes, carried out in partnership with the OCP group, at a cost of 800 million dirhams (USD 80 million). The Casablanca – Settat region is not to be outdone. A regional program has been set up to reuse treated wastewater to irrigate golf courses and green spaces in the region’s main cities, with an estimated budget of 1.7 billion dirhams (USD 170 million)… . Similar programs will be set up in other regions.
Mohamed CHAOUI
