As part of CORFO’s program to foster innovation, Crea y Valida, the Processing: Energy, Water, and Emissions team will conduct the study ‘Resilient Future: Smart Water Solutions for Sustainable Development.’
This project comprehensively addresses the critical challenge of the unequal distribution of water resources in Chile, seeking to develop an innovative, sustainable solution to the problem of water scarcity in Chile, by developing a tool (software) to optimize water distribution in a mining area, specifically Chile’s Antofagasta Region.
According to a 2019 study on global water stress by the World Resources Institute, Chile ranks 16th among 25 countries facing extremely high water stress. All diagnoses conclude that, without investment in water infrastructure and better water governance practices, the situation will continue to worsen: the study “Water Transition: The Future of Water in Chile,” presented by Fundación Chile, reveals that 44% of water gaps and risks in the basins originate from failures in water management and governance (lack of transparency in the water market; lack of coordination by institutions; limited oversight of users; and limited, fragmented and contradictory information on water resources that generates distrust among the actors).
Another key background information for this project is the country’s productive matrix, which is highly dependent on agriculture and mining, activities that are water intensive and concentrated in areas of water scarcity or high vulnerability.
This problem has led to an intense quest for new water supply sources, such as desalination plants. Against this backdrop, SMI-ICE-Chile teams are actively searching for solutions to this sustainable development challenge facing Chile.
In response to this challenge, the study “Resilient Future: Smart Water Solutions for Sustainable Development” by SMI-ICE-Chile proposes using optimization algorithms to develop a water planning tool that efficiently integrates water supply networks to move towards an integrated system and reduce excessive consumption of individual water sources.
As a result of the climate crisis facing the planet, a responsible and sustainable energy transition requires growing demand for critical metals, such as copper and lithium, and Chile is among the main global producers. The paradox is that water, in addition to being vital for the development and conservation of ecosystems, is one of the most critical resources for processing these key minerals for the energy transition.
Given these challenging conditions, mining companies have committed to reducing continental water consumption in their processes, which they are replacing with new water supply sources by designing, building and commissioning desalination plants that efficiently meet their needs.
According to Dr. Dennis Vega, leader of the Mineral Processing area at SMI-ICE-Chile and head of this project, “This solution presents areas of improvement in planning and construction for the areas where desalination will be located and the eventual water supply to mining projects. Currently, each mining company evaluates desalination plant projects individually, considering only the demand required for each entity. This will drive the construction of inefficient water supply and transportation systems from an economic and socio-environmental perspective.”
In collaboration with researchers from the Centre for Water in the Minerals Industry of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland (Australia), SMI-ICE-Chile has already made important progress on a solution that proposes another distribution paradigm: A tool that helps optimize integrated water supply networks for the Atacama Region through the project “Intelligent Water Supply Systems for Arid Areas.” This project, developed from 2020 to 2023 with financing from Mitsubishi Corporation Inversiones Limitada, Chile (MCI), produced a water supply planning software, open to all interested parties, intended to be used by the mining industry, government agencies, communities and other stakeholders to design an integrated, efficient water supply model in that region of extreme water scarcity, thereby minimizing supply costs and environmental impacts.
“The novelty of this recently awarded project within the framework of CORFO’s Crea y Valida program lies in its national scope,” explains Dr. Dennis Vega. “It proposes developing a tool that brings this type of solution to other regions of the country, mainly where mining activity, the water crisis and desalination projects are on the rise, such as the Antofagasta Region.”
