The future leachate plant of Aïn Témouchent in Algeria will enter into service before the end of February 2022. In the technical landfill center (CET) of Sidi Ben Adda where it is built, the installation will allow the treatment of leachates. This is a fraction of highly concentrated liquid that flows from the waste. This center and that of Sidi Safi take care of the household waste of 15 municipalities out of the 28 that comprise the wilaya of Ain Témouchent.
The future plant will treat 80 m3 of leachate per hour through the process of reverse osmosis. The water from the plant will be used for cleaning automotive equipment, including machinery of the CET Sidi Ben Adda, preserving the available water resource. The sludge from the plant will be discharged into the sewage system or returned to the landfill.
Other plants under construction
Construction of the leachate plant is 95% complete. “We count the realization of two basins, the shelter where the chemicals will be stored and a landfill with a capacity of 230 000 m3,” explains Boudjemâa Mohamed Amine, the main inspector at the Directorate of Environment of the wilaya of Aïn Témouchent. The project will allow in its final phase the acquisition of chemicals, the reinforcement of wiring and the installation of a new transformer station of great power to support the load for the supply of the leachate treatment plant, before launching the tests for its commissioning. The National Agency for Waste (AND) which supervises the work is also responsible for the training of two executives from the Directorate of Environment of the Wilaya of Ain Témouchent, which manages the CET.
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The work as a whole is part of a national program to achieve 33 leachate treatment plants in Algeria. The initiative launched in 2018 by the Algerian Ministry of the Environment has already resulted in the commissioning of 24 of these plants in Algeria. According to the director of the AND, Karim Ouamane, the ultimate goal is to transform 1 million m3 of leachate into water for irrigation or other uses (industrial) in the North African country.
Inès Magoum