Environmental impact assessment for the proposed implementation of small scale desalination and bottling plant in Hulhudhoo, Addu City

Abstract

The project has been proposed by a local entrepreneur (Mr. Abdulla Mutheeu, Nest Mead, S Hulhudhoo) to build and operate a small-scale water bottling plant in Hulhudhoo in Addu City. The proposed location of the facility is a leased land plot of 20000sq to the proponent from Addu City Council on the western side of Hulhudhoo. The land has been leased for a period of 10 years. The source water for desalination is to be drawn from a deep borehole drilled and installed within the site. The source water for the bottling will be purified desalinated water produced at site through desalination of deep groundwater (saline) through Reverse Osmosis (RO) process. The RO reject brine will be discharged into deeper lagoon in the west coast of Hulhudhoo. The electricity required for the operation will be obtained from the existing island power grid through FENAKA cooperation Hulhudhoo Meedhoo Branch which has been arranged. In emergencies electricity will be provided by the standby generator set of 200Kw to be installed along with the bottling plant. The daily production capacity of desalination unit will be at 80m3/day. The estimated daily production of bottled water will be at 350-400 bottles of 20L capacity (refillable) and 300 -500 bottles of 5L and 1.5L capacity. The focused market is local communities in Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo. The client aims to expand the production and thus sell these products in other islands in the atoll based on the demand. The potential environmental impacts during works implementation and during operation of the system are identified with appropriate mitigation measures. Positive and negative impacts, impact significance and impact severity from the proposed development have been primarily identified using checklist method along with consultations, expert opinions and professional judgements. Key impact zones identified are at vegetation clearance site and brine disposal location in marine water. Key impacts expected to be caused from the proposed project activities include loss of vegetation at building site due to vegetation clearance and suspension and increase of sedimentation at brine disposal site in marine water. These impacts are however low and insignificant due to the small scale of the project and appropriate mitigation measures and monitoring protocols have been proposed. Given the small scale of the project with minor environmental impacts and the existing need for purified bottled water in these communities, the consultants feel the project is feasible to be implemented as proposed provided the given mitigation measures are taken and monitoring is carried out.