Puna Island Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant

The City of Guayaquil sought to guarantee the supply of drinking water for the urban population of the Puna Island, which is located south of the city on the Guayas River Gulf. The island was previously supplied with water from two shallow wells, with depths of 35 m, that produce an average flow of 3.5 l/s, with a maximum operation of 8 hours each well. The extracted water was brackish and did not serve to meet the needs of the population.

To solve the issues of water supply for the Puna Island, Reverse Osmosis (R/O) technology was selected. Greeley and Hansen was responsible to develop the final design of the plant and provide construction management to manage the Contractor meeting the design and technical requirements as well as executing the project within the expected deadlines and done efficiently and safely. The water treatment process design included the pretreatment process that includes flocculation, drum filters, activated carbon filters, R/O treatment skid, and treated water storage and the sludge thickening process.

The project team led the review of the hydraulic design of the plant, review of the treatment process design of the plant, supervision during the installation of the hydraulic components: pipes, pumps, and other appurtenances, supervision during the installation of the R/O treatment plant, assistance for the supervision of the preliminary treatment and wastewater treatment construction, assistance and supervision during plant tests, and assistance during plant startup.

Project Highlights: 

• Final design and construction management of the Reverse Osmosis treatment plant facility 

• Hydraulic design of raw water pump station and force main, and the treated water pump station and force main 

• Installation of hydraulic components and the water treatment reverse osmosis equipment as well as plant start-up