Cyprus approves mobile desalination plant

Cyprus has approved an €85 million mobile desalination plant at Mazotos after approval from the Environmental Authority, said in-cyprus in a April 9 release.

The plant, designated an urgent national priority, is expected to be operational by December 2026 and will initially produce 20,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day, with capacity expandable to 40,000 cubic meters. It is designed to operate for 7 years.

The Environmental Authority selected the Makaronia site at Mazotos after rejecting Softades, Maroni, and Psematismenos locations. Softades and Maroni fall within a National Guard military exclusion zone, and vibrations from military exercises were considered incompatible with desalination infrastructure. Psematismenos was rejected on environmental and social grounds because the site sits within tourist development zones and has limited capacity to disperse brine due to existing harbor works. Much of the land also falls within a coastal protection zone.

Makaronia will require a 3,700-m land pipeline. The seabed at the discharge point is primarily sandy with limited biodiversity, reducing ecological risk. A marine ecological study and brine dispersion study ensured that brine discharge would not disturb the marine environment even under extreme conditions. Strict conditions were attached regarding the protection of coastal vegetation and salinity monitoring.

The plant will be 2 km from the center of Mazotos and 1.4 km from the nearest residential zone. It will use reverse osmosis technology and will be fully automated via a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to continuously monitor water quality and infrastructure performance.