Rabat – Morocco’s OCP Group has launched the construction work of a wastewater treatment plant (STEP) in Kasbat Tadla in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region, north-central Morocco.
The director of the OCP Khouribga site, Abdelkarim Ramzi and Khatib El Hebil, inaugurated the project on December 21 alongside the Wali (governor) of the Beni-Mellal province.
OCP’s contribution to the STEP project amounts to MAD 168 million ($18 million), with the Ministry of Interior contributing with MAD 30 million ($3.2 million).
The municipality of Tadla invested MAD 7 million ($758.329) to ensure the collection of all the city’s wastewater.
As part of the newly launched project, the wastewater currently discharged at Oum Er Rbia river will be transported to the Kasbat Tadla plant for purification.
OCP Group has pledged to reuse the treated water from the Kasbat Tadla STEP in the industrial phosphate washing facilities at the Khouribga mining area via the existing OCP pipes for the industrial water.
The group aims to participate in the cleaning of Oum Er Rbia river, improve the environment, and preserve conventional water resources.
The STEP project is part of the “Act4community Khouribga” action launched by the OCP aiming to boost socio-economic, cultural, and environmental development in the region.
Since the start of its industrial program in 2008, OCP Group has developed an integrated and sustainable water program.
Read Also: OCP Reaffirms Commitment to Investing in Non-Conventional Water Resources
The water program consists of optimizing the water use throughout the value chain and mobilizing unconventional water resources.
In a report about the company’s Kasbat Tadla project, Morocco’s state news agency (MAP) quoted Abdessamad Chatabi, Water and Electricity Project Manager at the OCP Khouribga Site, as stressing: “The project, which will run for 12 months, will be completed in 2022 and will create 40,000 working days and 20 direct positions.”
In the next four years, OCP Group aims to expand desalination centers and STEP across Morocco, with a focus on constructing a STEP in Fkih Ben Salah city and delivering wastewater from the Beni Mellal STEP to the Khouribga site.
