Construction of El Salvador’s Ilopango water treatment plant set to start in December

Construction of El Salvador’s US$40mn Ilopango water treatment plant, which was a donation from China, will start in December after several delays, according to state aqueducts and sewers administrator ANDA. 

“During the first days of December we will lay the first stone of the water treatment plant,” ANDA president Rubén Alemán was quoted as saying by newspaper La Prensa Gráfica. In July, ANDA said construction would start soon. 

Construction of the project, which was awarded to Chinese company Hebei Construction Group, is expected to take three years although it could be finished before then, according to Alemán. 

The water will not be taken directly from Ilopango lake but from several wells that were drilled in the nearby area.

The plant will produce 300l/s and will provide water for more than 250,000 people in eight municipalities where water shortages have been reported: Soyapango, San Martín, Ilopango, San Marcos, Santo Tomás, Santiago Texacuangos, Olocuilta and San Francisco Chinameca.  

“We have drilled eight wells around it, and … the water will have lower metal concentration. There will be a filter and a water treatment plant,” said Alemán.

However, according to the report, the environment and natural resources ministry (MARN) has warned about the presence of heavy metals in the water including boron and arsenic.

ANDA has refused to provide information about the water quality of the wells despite requests from environmental groups like Foro del Agua.