One of the main challenges of the Aqueduct Corporation and Sewerage of Santo Domingo (Caasd) is to guarantee the supply of drinking water to almost two million inhabitants of the municipalities Santo Domingo East and Santo Domingo North.
To this end, from 2022 it is carrying out the expansion of the Salinity Barrier Aqueductlocated in the town of El Naranjo, in the San Luis municipal district.
Santo Domingo East It has an estimated population of 1.3 million inhabitants, which makes it the most populated municipality of the country, while Santo Domingo Norte has around 700,000 residents.
With the expansion of the system, Santo Domingo East you will receive a estimated increase of 33% in the supply of waterand Santo Domingo Norte by 50%, which will significantly improve the service offer in both districts.
The project includes the construction of a new treatment module that will add two cubic meters per second at existing capacitywhich was previously just one cubic meter per second.
To supply Santo Domingo Norte, a drive line 36 inches in diameter and 2.7 kilometers in length, as well as a storage tank with a capacity for 28,000 cubic meters.
The expansion of the aqueduct, which is fed by the Ozama River at its confluence with the Yabacao, includes the equipment of eight new bombs: four intended for the treatment of water raw and four for the management of water treated.
At the intake site, work was carried out to optimize the capture of water and its conduction to the treatment plant, through the installation of new suction pumps and the adequacy of the existing infrastructure.
The project includes the construction of four regulating tanks that will increase the storage volume in 113,636 cubic metersas well as the installation of 52 kilometers of distribution networks of different diameters.
According to the director of the Caasd, Felipe Subervíthese works will guarantee a service of drinking water continuous and of higher quality.
Suberví explained that, upon assuming management of the institution in August 2020, the Salinity Barrier system produced barely 1.8 cubic meters per second.
In a first stage of intervention, the capacity was raised to four cubic meters per second, and with the current expansion the goal is to reach six cubic meters per second, equivalent to 136 million gallons per day.
Although work was expected to be completed last year, the project presents delays. According to the director’s statements, the system expansion It will be inaugurated in the first quarter of 2026 by the president Luis Abinader. At the end of last year, Suberví reported that the work was approximately 70% complete.
-
Since last December, Diario Libre requested information from the entity about the progress of the work, its cost and the reasons for the delay in commissioning, without receiving an official response.
He financing
For the expansion of the Salinity Barrier aqueduct and the transfer of water towards Santo Domingo Norte, the Dominican State contracted a loan for 97 million dollars with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF). Added to this is a counterpart from the Dominican Government of 45 million dollars.
The President’s Government Luis Abinader It committed to a counterpart of 45 million dollars. While the machinery continues to work, the objective is clear: that the water stops being an everyday problem and becomes a guaranteed service for the communities of Greater Santo Domingo.
It is a historical debt which, little by little, begins to pay off, according to the schedule that the authorities of the Caasd.
