Tunisia: Tunisia: Major seawater desalination project supports water resilience in Sfax

The Gargour seawater desalination plant was recently inaugurated in Sfax, following an investment of 1.2 billion dinars (around €352 million), making it one of the largest water infrastructure projects ever developed in Tunisia. The project comes at a critical moment for the region, where limited local water resources, recurrent droughts and growing demand from a densely populated and highly industrialised area have increased pressure on conventional supplies.

With an initial capacity of 100,000 m³ per day, the new infrastructure aims to diversify Tunisia’s water supply sources and strengthen drinking water security. Designed to progressively reach 250,000 m³ per day, its commissioning will also allow part of the national water supply previously directed to Sfax to be redirected towards the Sahel and Cap Bon regions, helping reinforce water availability in other water-stressed areas.