名列全球大型海水淡化廠之一的阿爾及爾海水淡化廠，24日在阿爾及利亞總統包特夫里卡，以及承包興建和執行運作的美商奇異公司高級主管共同宣佈下，正式開始營運。
這項耗資2億5千萬美元的設備，將為上百萬居住在阿爾及爾這個靠海首都、飽受乾旱缺水之苦的居民，供給生活用水。
興建在阿爾及爾港東邊一處污染荒廢地上的哈瑪海水淡化廠，將採用奇異公司的專利逆滲透膜來淨化海水。奇異公司表示，這個淡化廠每天能夠處理5300萬加侖的海水。海水淡化廠興建的地點並不是取決於當地純淨的水源，而是基於公共建設的考量。
奇異公司在哈瑪淡化廠的個案分析中指出：「雖然這個港灣的水質會受船隻運輸及港口活動影響，但鄰近配水管網絡、電力網格及運輸路線的優勢，讓它成為理想的興建地點。」
這座海水淡化廠將成為阿爾及爾200萬名居民賴以維生的飲用水來源。過去50年來，隨著越來越多農民搬遷到都市，飲用水逐漸在當地變的越加珍貴。
需求和乾旱導致水源不足，而老舊外漏的配給系統則意味著經常性的分區限水，有時甚至每3天才能夠供水1次。在地面水資源不足的情況下，阿爾及利亞政府投資興建水庫來提高降雨集水量和儲存量，但由於乾旱持續不斷，仍舊不足以應付居民的用水需求。
針對市區供水系統進行維修，已經把漏水量從40%降到低於25%，但是對於當地民眾來說，水源不足仍舊是每天必須面對的考驗。
哈瑪海水淡化廠特殊工程公司，是由奇異公司資助70%、阿爾及利亞能源公司提供30%的資金所共同設立。
奇異公司擁有25年的營運契約，並負責廠房每日的運作。這項淡化設備主要是透過2條550公尺長的輸入管將海水引進前置作業系統，讓海水變得較為清澈，並添加助凝劑以便去除水中的懸浮物，降低原水的生物變化性。
奇異公司在哈瑪淡化廠計劃書中也作出解釋：「海水會受季節變動、生物成長所影響，營運中的港口也會提高海水濁度。」但奇異公司也表示，哈瑪淡化廠主要是以處理「原水水質中潛在變異性」為其設計基礎。在經過凝聚和沈澱之後，海水會流過一個雙層濾器後進入水井。水井中的水在被分送到9個單通道逆滲透膜之前，還會被抽吸經過5微米的濾心。再礦化作用和消毒則是飲用水進入都市供給系統前的最後一個淨水步驟。
One of the largest seawater desalination plants in the world was officially opened in Algiers on Sunday by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and a senior executive of the U.S.-based General Electric Company, which built and will operate the plant.
The new $250 million facility will supply the drought-stricken, thirsty millions of residents of this capital city by the sea.
Constructed on a brownfield site just east of the Port of Algiers, the Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant purifies seawater with GE's proprietary reverse osmosis membranes, and the company says it can handle up to 53 million gallons of seawater a day.
This location was not chosen for the purity of its water, but for its infrastructure.
"Although the water quality in this part of the bay can be affected by ship traffic and port activities, the site is ideal for its proximity to the city's water distribution network, power grid, and transportation routes," GE says in a Hamma case study.
The plant will provide as many as two million residents of Algiers with a reliable supply of potable water, an increasingly scarce commodity to come by as rural residents have moved to the city in rising numbers over the past 50 years.
Water scarcity caused by demand, drought, and an aging, leaky distribution system has meant frequent water rationing. Sometimes the water has been running only one of every three days.
With few surface water sources, the Algerian government has invested in new dams to improve its rain catchment and storage capacity, but they have not been enough to meet demand, due to persistant drought.
Repairs to the city's water distribution system have cut water losses from 40 percent to less than 25 percent, but still water scarcity has been a daily trial for residents.
The special project company, Hamma Water Desalination SpA, combines 70 percent funding from General Electric and 30 percent from the state-owned Algerian Energy Company, AEC.
GE holds a 25 year contract to operate and maintain the plant and is responsible for daily operations.
The facility will draw in seawater through two 550-meter direct intake pipes to a pre-treatment system, where it will enter a clarifier and have coagulants added to help remove suspended solids and reduce biological challenges of the raw water.
"Seawater is affected by seasonal dynamics, biological blooms and turbidity affects from a working port," GE explains in a paper on the Hamma desalination project.
But the company says the process at the Hamma plant is designed to handle "the potential variability in raw water quality."
So, following flocculation and settling, the water will pass through a dual media filter and enter a clearwell.
Water from the clearwell will be pumped through five-micron cartridge filters before being distributed among nine trains of single-pass reverse osmosis membranes.
Remineralization and disinfection will be the final steps in the process before the water can enter the city's distribution system.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
