OCP launches construction of wastewater treatment plant in Kasbat Tadla

The Office chérifien des phosphates (OCP), the world’s leading exporter of raw phosphate, phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers, has launched the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Kasbat Tadla, a town located in the province of Béni Mellal-Khénifra.

The aim of the project, which is part of the general strategy of OCP, is to cope with water stress. OCP has given itself twelve months to put the Kasbat Talda wastewater treatment plant into operation.

The producer and exporter of phosphate (a mineral used in the manufacture of fertilizers for agriculture, editor’s note) in Morocco will also ensure the operation and maintenance of the future treatment plant. While details of the plant’s production capacity have not been disclosed, it is known that it will supply OCP’s facilities in the Khouribga mining area via existing industrial water pipes. The treated wastewater will then be used to wash the phosphates after extraction.

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Investment

The treated wastewater will be reused to wash the ore after extraction in the various OCP facilities in the Khouribga mining area. Currently, the mining area of Khouribga, located in the province of Beni Mellal-Khénifra, has only one wastewater treatment plant that supplies the “Merah Lahrach” washing plant since 2012. The plant has a production capacity of 5 million m3 per year. In addition to improving water services, the Kasbat Talda treatment plant will help reduce wastewater pollution in the areas concerned, as well as in the Oum Er Rbia tributary.

OCP is preparing to invest 168 million Moroccan dirhams, more than 16 million euros, for the construction of the future facility. The Moroccan Ministry of the Interior will contribute 30 million Moroccan dirhams (about 2.9 million euros) for the construction of the collector and interceptor, while the municipality of Tadal will invest 7 million dirhams (about 668,600 euros) to finance the collection of wastewaters to supply the Kasbat Talda plant.

The success of this project will bring OCP closer to its objective of increasing its rate of use of water from non-conventional sources to 100% by 2030, compared to 31% currently. However, the group specifies that only 28% of this resource will come from wastewater treatment plants and 72% from seawater desalination.