The first lot of inverse osmosis modules required to build the Desalinated Water Supply Project for the Northern District, being developed by Techint Engineering & Construction, is now on its way.

The inverse osmosis module train has set sail from the Port of Gebze in Turkey, and is now making its way across the ocean on a route that will take it 12,000 km and over 40 days to the Port of Caleta Viuda. This location, in the south of Tocopilla, in Chile, is where Techint Engineering & Construction is building the Desalinated Water Supply system for the Northern District, known as the SADDN project. The inverse osmosis modules have an essential role to play in providing desalinated water to the Chuquicamata, Ministro Hales and Radomiro Tomic mining divisions.

The Traffic & Logistics department, which has been entrusted with overseeing this activity, explained that the components are being transported in a container ship. In fact, there are nine containers housing the equipment, each part carefully packed to ensure all the pieces arrive undamaged and intact at their destination following 42 days on the high seas.

“Our priority is to ensure that the osmosis skids arrive safe and sound at the Angamos port in Chile, so we can press on with the project. In order to make sure this happens, we’ve been working hard to ensure that loading and unloading the vessel is carefully controlled, through exhaustive planning,” points out Karla De León, Traffic & Logistics Specialist. She also singled out for praise the work carried out by the Inspection and Activation departments, which have been closely involved from the start of the manufacturing process in the Turkish capital of Ankara, to the arrival of the parts in the Mejillones district in Antogasta.

The skids are the heart of the seawater desalination process that uses reverse osmosis to produce “product water” for industrial as well as drinking use. The SADDN project will allow Codelco to reduce its consumption of fresh water by 60%. Currently, the building of the desalination plant, being carried out by IDE and supervised by Techint E&C, is at the civil works stage.