ACCIONA improves potable water supplies in the Dominican Republic with the opening of the Peravia aqueduct

ACCIONA Agua has completed the Peravia Multiple Aqueduct Project in the south of Dominican Republic, which now supplies more than 138,000 people in a region that has suffered from a lack of potable water for over 40 years. 

The project represents a total investment of 137 million dollars (around 130 million euros) and has been developed by ACCIONA Agua as the majority partner together with Abi Karram Morilla Ingenieros Arquitectos. It covers one of the most pressing problems of the province of Peravia, one of its biggest demands for many years. 

The National Institute of Potable Water and Sanitation (Inapa) of the Dominican Republic put its trust in ACCIONA Agua’s experience to improve the network and facilitate access to quality water resources for the population.

With the opening of the Aqueduct, the joint venture headed by ACCIONA Agua now guarantees potable water supplies to people living in Bani, Paya, El Fundo, Matanzas and Arroyo Hondo, among other places. 

The service came on stream in the first trimester of 2016 with supplies to the municipality of Nizao, which was soon joined by the other localities. The system is now operating at 100% capacity and producing 1m³/second to supply all the municipalities in the network, with an initial population equivalent of 138,000 although it could be extended up to 300,000 in the future. 

As part of the project ACCIONA Agua has built and started up the Potable Water Treatment Station of Peravia, which has a flow rate of 86,400 m³/day. The water flows through a 17.5-kilometer-long supply main that was also built as part of the project. It takes water from the Valdesia-Santo Domingo aqueduct over the river Nizao and sends it to the treatment plant. Once treated, the water runs through almost 75 kilometers of piping to reach a number of localities.

Extensive experience

ACCIONA Agua has operated in the Dominican Republic since October 2009, when it was awarded the Peravia contract. In August 2016 a joint venture consisting of the Construction and Water divisions of ACCIONA and local partners (Inversiones y Construcciones del Caribe and Consorcio Solsanit) was awarded the contract for the construction of the extension to the Eastern Aqueduct of Santo Domingo, valued at over 97 million dollars (around 92 million euros). 

More recently, the Ministry of Tourism of the Dominican Republic awarded a joint venture headed by ACCIONA Infraestructuras the regeneration and refurbishment of 13 beaches in 7 municipalities for a sum of 64.6 million dollars (around 60 million euros). Some of the beaches are located in the most scenic parts of the country, such as Cabeza de Toro, Macao and Arena Gorda-Cortecito in the Punta Cana area. The project, to be carried out over 30 months, includes – among other things – the construction of port infrastructures and dykes, dredging and the supply of sand to beaches, the improvement of existing roadways, the installation of mooring buoys and ancillary components (signs, showers…) plus footbridges over the sand and cleaning activities. 

The water and sanitation sector has become one of the main drivers of development for Latin America, and ACCIONA has continued to strengthen its presence in the continent in 2016. As part of its commitment to access to quality water supplies to ensure the sustainable management of the water cycle, ACCIONA has consolidated itself as a benchmark company in potabilization, desalination and wastewater treatment with projects in 12 countries, among them Peru, Ecuador or Mexico.