Drought-struck Barcelona quenches thirst with costly desalination
Europe's largest desalination plant for drinking water had largely remained idle since its construction near Barcelona over a decade ago
EL PRAT DE LLOBREGAT, Spain (AP) — Where once the population of Barcelona drank mostly from its rivers and wells, Spain’s second city now relies upon a labyrinth-like mesh of green, blue and purple pipes inside an industrial plant to keep it from going thirsty amid a prolonged drought.
Water is pumped from two kilometers (1.2 miles) into the Mediterranean Sea to where the Llobregat desalination plant sits on an isolated stretch of beach. After journeying through several cleaning and filtering systems it reaches its final stop: the twisting and turning multi-colored channels that squeeze every drop of water free of its salt.
Barely used after being built in 2009, Europe’s largest desalination plant for drinking water is running at full throttle to help the greater Barcelona area and some five million people adapt to the impact of climate change, which has contributed to the drying up of southern Europe's fresh water reserves through heat waves and drought.
In April 2021, before the drought, rivers provided 63% of Barcelona’s drinking water, wells provided 34% and desalination just 3%. Two years later desalination makes up 33% of Barcelona’s drinking water, while wells provide 23% and its shrinking rivers just 19%, according to Barcelona’s municipal water company.
