Filtralite® at Beni Saf Desalination Plant: Increasing Production Capacity and Lowering OPEX
With its unique porosity, Filtralite® Clean filter media offers optimum conditions for biofilm growth and for water to flow through the filter bed in order to retain and remove more contaminants. This feature, main characteristic of the lightweight expanded clay material, allows for larger volumes of water to be filtered through the same volume as contact area is increased. Our products also decrease operation costs.
Background & Challenge
The Beni Saf desalination plant in Algeria, owned by Beni Saf Water Company and operated by Tedagua (Grupo Cobra), is one of the Mediterranean’s largest desalination facilities with a capacity of 200,000 m³/day. Frequent intense rainfall events in the coastal catchment area resulted in high levels of mineral suspended solids (SS), causing production bottlenecks and escalating operational costs.
Smart Upgrade Initiative
To mitigate these issues cost-effectively, the plant replaced the traditional sand media in its initial filtration stage across 48 filters with Filtralite® expanded clay filter media. This retrofit—implemented in two phases in October 2020 (first 24 filters) and October 2021 (remaining 24)—aimed to reduce downtime, minimize backwashing requirements, enhance filtration quality, and lower pressure drops.
Proven Results
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Operational cycle length: With Filtralite®, filter run times during heavy rainfall (Nov 2020–Feb 2021) were 200% longer than with sand.
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Maturation time: Reduced by nearly 66% compared to traditional media.
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Production losses: Dropped from 673,000 m³ (Nov 2019–Feb 2020) to 380,000 m³, a 45% reduction. With all filters upgraded, projected downtime reductions exceed 85%
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Water quality: Improved by 0.3–0.5 SDI points, resulting in less frequent cartridge filter replacements.
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Costs and efficiency: The switch led to reduced backwashing, less wasted water, and lower costs in energy, consumables, chemical cleaning, and O&M
Mohammed Kastawy Area Sales Manager – MENA Region Mobile: +971565503535 Email : mohammed.kastawy@saint-gobain.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com
