Tunis: The national plan in the water sector is seeking to increase the number of investments in the field of water desalination, which currently represents about 5% of the national production of drinking water, said Chawki Ben Mansour, In an interview with TAP, the manager added that water desalination stations are among the major projects planned by SONEDE, specifying that investment in seawater desalination or brackish water is characterized by high production costs compared to water production from dams. Indeed, a cubic meter (m3) of desalinated sea water costs around 3 dinars, while the production of a m3 of water from dams varies between 200 and 250 millimes for the category whose consumption is less than 20 m3. The manager reiterated that the difference is borne by SONEDE, which has caused a financial imbalance because the cost of the cubic meter is higher than the price of the cubic meter paid by the consumer. SONEDE is seeking to get funds in order to carry out projects such as the seawater desal ination station in Mahdia and another one in Zarzis, the same source said. Regarding Tunisia's water resources, the official indicated that surface wells provide around 250 million m3 per year of consumption which amounts to around 700 million m3 per year. SONEDE works to exploit the dams in the north which provide approximately 65% of national drinking water production, he indicated. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse