AZE.US
Construction has begun near Sumgayit on a seawater desalination plant that is expected to supply roughly a quarter of Baku’s current water consumption, Azerbaijani officials said.
Zaur Mikayilov, chairman of the Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency, said in an interview with Report that the project is being implemented under a public-private partnership model.
According to him, the plant will have an annual production capacity of 100 million cubic meters.
“That is approximately 25% of the water currently used in Baku, which is a very significant figure,” Mikayilov said.
He said desalination is a widely used technology around the world and is one of the main sources of drinking water in many Middle Eastern countries.
Mikayilov explained that in the desalination process, water is passed through special filters under high pressure, removing both pollutants and salt.
He also said the project’s environmental impact had been assessed in line with international standards and that potential effects had been reduced to a minimum.
“There are no problems in terms of water quality. On the contrary, in some cases even higher-quality water can be obtained, and the necessary minerals are then added to make it suitable for drinking,” he said.