SINGAPORE (Nov 11): Water treatment company Hyflux on Nov 10 officially opened the Magtaa desalination plant, which is said to be the largest seawater reverse osmosis desalination plant in Algeria and on the African continent.

Magtaa Desalination Plant features the largest ultrafiltration pre-treatment facility in the world. It has the capacity to desalinate 500,000 cubic metres of seawater per day.

The plant uses Hyflux’s proprietary ultrafiltration technology for the desalination pre-treatment process and reverse osmosis membrane technology.

Magtaa Desalination Plant will supply water to Oran, Algeria’s second largest city, and the neighbouring provinces under a 25-year water purchase agreement with L’Algérienne Des Eaux and Sonatrach.

Olivia Lum, Executive Chairman and Group CEO, said, “We are pleased to celebrate the opening of Magtaa Desalination Plant. It will be instrumental in meeting Algeria’s water needs.

This project strengthens our presence in the region. It also demonstrates our technology as well as engineering and construction capabilities for municipalities in need of sustainable and cost-effective water solutions.”

Construction of the Magtaa plant had not been smooth-sailing.

Work started in October 2008 and the project was expected to be completed by the second half of 2012. However, Algeria was rocked by protests from 2010 to 2012.

A fire also destroyed Hyflux’s warehouse at the project site in July 2011, which led to the rescheduling of the completion date.

The plant will contribute between $5 million and $15 million of annual profit to Hyflux, according to media reports.

Hyflux is trading flat at 99.5 cents as at 2:01 p.m. local time.