Completed in November 2024, the expansion of the North Antofagasta Desalination Plant in Northern Chile delivers an additional 500 liters per second of drinking water by enhancing the plant's capability to convert seawater into freshwater through advanced desalination technologies. PENETRON ADMIX, a crystalline waterproofing admixture, was specified to protect the new concrete structures from the aggressive environment of the desalination plant.
A port city on the Pacific Coast in the northern end of Chile, Antofagasta is the center of the country’s copper mining industry, one of the world’s most important sources of the metal. Originally a silver and saltpeter mining town, today the city has also become a hub for lithium mining. As a result, Antofagasta continues to steadily grow, with a current population of over 400,000 and booming construction, retail, and hotel industries – as evidenced by a remarkable city skyline bordering the Atacama Desert, one of the driest climates in the world.
The newly expanded and upgraded North Antofagasta desalination plant increases the plant’s previous output – 1,053 liters/second (278 gallons/second) – by around 53%, enough to cover current and projected future freshwater demand for residential, industrial, and agricultural use in the Antofagasta region.
“In this part of the world, access to fresh water is crucial for the continued growth of the city, including the copper mining industry,” says Domingo Lema, General Manager of Penetron Chile. “The $130 million plant expansion is a significant project to increase the capacity and efficiency of the existing desalination facility. It also makes Antofagasta the first large city in Latin America to fully cover its drinking water consumption through seawater desalination.”
Belfi, a Chilean engineering and construction firm and the general contractor for the North Antofagasta desalination project, reached out to Penetron for help on a solution to protect the new concrete structures of the plant from constant exposure to a corrosive mix of chloride ions and salts.
“Back in 2022, Belfi had successfully used Penetron products in port work in Coquimbo,” adds Domingo Lema. “We worked directly with the Belfi engineering team about how to best implement PENETRON ADMIX, a crystalline waterproofing admixture, in the concrete mix for this expansion of the plant.”
PENETRON ADMIX was mixed into the concrete for the holding tanks, other structures exposed to seawater, and freshwater storage tanks. Because PENETRON ADMIX is completely non-toxic and contains no VOCs, the admixture is NSF 61-certified for potable water applications like the North Antofagasta project.
“As a permeability reducing admixture ideal for marine environments, PENETRON ADMIX provides ‘self-healing’ capabilities for hairline cracks, enhances the compressive strength of concrete, and resists high hydrostatic pressure,” adds Domingo Lema. “Tests have shown that our admixture can extend the service life of concrete structures by 60 years or more, even in the harsh environment of a desalination plant.”
Concrete waterproofed with Penetron: The new plant makes Antofagasta the first large city in Latin America to cover its drinking water needs through seawater desalination.
