The € 230 million El Prat de Llobregat desalination, which will supply Barcelona with 200,000 m³/d of potable water, was officially opened on 22 July 2009 by the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, José Montilla, and Environment Minister Elena Espinosa.
The seawater reverse-osmosis plant, constructed by Degremont in joint venture with DRACE Medioambiente, will ease the threat of water restrictions in the Spanish city by producing 24% of the water consumed by the 4.5 million population.
Montilla said that together with the anticipated plants at Foix and Tordera, 200 million m³/year of water would be added to the supply for Catalunya by 2014.