The start of 2026 marks a defining moment for Almar Water Solutions. Two major projects are coming into operation: the Centinela Water Supply System in Chile and the Zuluf Water Treatment Plant in Saudi Arabia. These are more than delivery milestones – they signal a broader shift in how heavy industry understands and manages water.
For companies such as Antofagasta Minerals and Saudi Aramco, water is no longer just a supporting resource. It is central to their core business—copper extraction in Chile’s Atacama Desert and oil and gas production in eastern Saudi Arabia. For many years, this meant building and running their own water systems. Today, a different approach is gaining momentum: partnering with specialist providers under long-term agreements that ensures secure, scalable supply, while enabling companies to focus on their core business and redeploy capital towards higher-value opportunities.
Centinela: Water in the Desert, Powering Copper Extraction
In the arid north of Chile, Antofagasta Minerals faced a major challenge. The expansion of its Centinela copper operations required a doubling of seawater supply, pumped 144 kilometres inland from Michilla on the Pacific coast.
Almar Water Solutions addressed this need by developing two high‑capacity water transport systems with a combined capacity of more than 167,000 m³ per day. These systems are delivered under a 16‑year BOOT (Build–Own–Operate–Transfer) contract. The project company is owned 50% by Almar Water Solutions and 50% by Transelec, Chile’s leading energy transmission company.
This take‑or‑pay agreement, supported by a US$1.5 billion investment, provides Centinela secure long-term supply and a bank‑financed solution that reduces operational risk. It has been developed in partnership with Transelec and executed by a specialized operator in the extraction of non-ferrous metallic minerals (excluding zinc, lead, and manganese).
These works have delivered outstanding technical performance, reducing stoppages in the first year to a single isolated incident, compared with the more frequent disruptions previously experienced.
Zuluf: Securing Water for Oil in the Arabian Gulf
In Saudi Arabia, Aramco is developing a water treatment plant to support its Zuluf Onshore Oil Facilities. The plant, with a capacity of 185,000 m³/day, has been designed and will be operated by Almar Water Solutions under a 25‑year BOOT agreement. For a company of Aramco’s scale, this was not about technical capability – It was a deliberate strategic choice.
By appointing a specialist to design, finance, build and operate the plant, Aramco secures reliable support for its production operations while maintaining its focus on its core energy business.
From Ownership to Partnership: A Strategic Shift in Industrial Water Management
What Centinela and Aramco have adopted goes beyond traditional outsourcing. It is a business-to-business partnership model in which clients’ water challenges become shared responsibilities. This is not about transferring risk from one party to another; it is about managing it more effectively, together. Operating water systems in‑house often entails hidden costs and risks:
- Supply interruptions
- Construction overruns
- Ageing or inadequate technology
- In the worst case, production stoppages due to water-related failures
Working with a long‑term partner offers clear advantages:
- Predictable performance over decades
- Access to top‑tier project finance instruments, enabling large-sacle scale investment and optimal risk allocation
- Up‑to‑date technology and regulatory alignment
- Fixed‑price, long‑term contracts that limit surprises
- and, above all, Trust and Reliability
Just as Toyota reshaped the automotive sector by outsourcing key parts of its supply chain in the 1990s to strengthen resilience and efficiency, heavy industry is now doing the same with water. This shift is structural and here to stay.
Almar: Turning Water into Strategic Value
At Almar Water Solutions, we do not see ourselves simply as a contractor. We see ourselves as a strategic partner, working at the heart of our clients’ long‑term plans.
The companies we work with are not looking for generic solutions. They are looking for a partner who understands their industrial processes, shares their timelines and standards, and is committed to long‑term operational excellence.
Water is a core part of the business, not a peripheral utility. Entrusting its management to a qualified partner is not a risk—it is the most secure course of action for any industrial operator.
Water has one defining feature: it is local. It cannot be moved across markets or replaced from elsewhere. Assets cannot simply relocate when basin conditions worsen. As water stress rises, as in Chile and Saudi Arabia, water risk becomes not only technical but financial—affecting asset value, the cost of capital and competitiveness. It demands action at basin level, not just efficiency at the plant.
As we begin 2026, Centinela and Zuluf are more than operational projects. They have become part of the communities they serve. They show the way forward for industrial water: specialised, financed, secure and delivered through partnership.
