Agreement for the renovation of the Las Pavas potable water plant

San Salvador, June 22, 2016.- Today, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Salvadoran government signed a US$16,982,500.00 loan for the renovation of the Las Pavas Potable Water Plant.

The Plant, which is located in the Municipality of San Pablo Tacachico in the Department of La Libertad, is currently the principal source of potable water production for the San Salvador metropolitan region. The project’s execution will contribute to the socioeconomic development of the area and will directly benefit approximately 538,120 people, guaranteeing water provision with sufficient quality and quantity for the next 20 years.

The plant’s renovation will lead to savings of approximately 25.0% in current energy costs and will increase the plant’s capacity from 2.4 m³/s to 3.0 m³/s, equivalent to 80,000 m³ daily. In addition, 2.5 million m³ of water will no longer be wasted in the backwash process. This will make it possible to expand service coverage and to save in the cost of chemical products used for purification. The Las Pavas Potable Water Plant is the country’s most important potable water source.

This loan is in addition to CABEI’s US$636.6 thousand support in 2013 with resources from the Regional Technical and Preinvestment Cooperation Program (FONTEC) to fund feasibility studies for the project to Renovate the Las Pavas Potable Water Plant; the studies were carried out by the VIELCA-EC Consortium.

Likewise, there is another US$200,000.00 in financial cooperation to study the feasibility of the Stage No. 1 Energy Efficiency Project: Diagnosis of the Installation of Frequency Converters, the Needed Power for Existing Electric Motors and Electrical Sub-Stations in Pumping and Re-pumping Plants.

The agreement signing ceremony took place at the Salvadoran Presidential Palace, where it was signed by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Carlos Cáceres and the CABEI Director for El Salvador, Mr. Guillermo Funes Cartagena.