Tunisia's President Kaïs Saïed has officially inaugurated the Zarat desalination plant, a significant development aimed at addressing the country's critical water scarcity issues. The facility, designed to alleviate the overexploitation of groundwater resources exacerbated by prolonged droughts and the depletion of surface water sources, marks a major milestone in Tunisia’s water infrastructure.

The Zarat plant, developed by the Indian company Va Tech Wabag, boasts an initial capacity to produce 50,000 cubic meters of drinking water per day, with plans to double this capacity to 100,000 cubic meters by 2027. Seawater is sourced from a nearby pumping station and travels through a network of 1,800 mm diameter pipes to reach storage tanks, each with a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters. Additionally, the facility features a brine discharge system that integrates with the existing network via 1,400 mm diameter pipes.

Under a 2019 agreement with Tunisia’s National Agency for Operations and Water Distribution (SONEDE), Va Tech Wabag, based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, undertook the engineering, procurement, and construction services for the project. The construction of the plant, co-financed by the Tunisian government and the German development agency Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), required a total investment of $105 million.

By 2035, the Zarat desalination plant is expected to provide drinking water to approximately one million residents across the governorates of Gabes, Médenine, and Tataouine. The facility is scheduled to begin operations at the end of July 2024 and is the first of three seawater desalination plants set to become operational by the end of the year, with the other two located in Sfax and Sousse.