Aguas PatilloTarapacá · Chile ES
Bahía de Patillos · Tarapacá Region, Chile

A new water source for northern Chile

Aguas Patillo is building the region’s independent, multi-client desalination infrastructure: 1,500 liters per second of water for the mines, cities, and new industries of northern Chile.

Explore the project
1,500 L/s

Planned production capacity, with room to grow module by module.

Multi-client

The only independent, multi-client desalination development in Tarapacá.

2029

Target date for environmental approval (RCA); the review filing is in preparation.

The challenge

Chile’s driest region needs a new source of water

After fifteen-plus years of megadrought, northern Chile’s aquifers are overdrawn, and communities, mines, and industry are competing for a shrinking resource. The ocean is the only source that grows with demand.

15+

Years of megadrought

Chile is in the longest drought in its recorded history, and rainfall is still declining.

54%

Municipalities in declared scarcity

More than half of Chile’s municipalities carry an official water-scarcity declaration.

2025

The Antofagasta precedent

Antofagasta became the first major Chilean city supplied entirely with desalinated water. The Tarapacá coast is the natural next step.

The project

One plant, one exceptional site, many users

Aguas Patillo is developing a seawater desalination plant at Bahía de Patillos, south of Iquique, on coastal land the project owns; the associated maritime concession is well along in processing. The site offers direct ocean access and sits close to both Tarapacá’s main mining corridors and the cities of Iquique and Alto Hospicio.

The plant is designed to deliver industrial-grade and potable-grade water at the plant gate, starting at 1,500 liters per second and adding modules as clients contract capacity.

One shared plant replaces a series of single-user projects, which means less construction on the coastline, a smaller combined environmental footprint, and better economics for every client.

  • LocationBahía de Patillos, comuna of Iquique, Tarapacá Region
  • Capacity1,500 L/s planned, expandable in modules
  • ProductsIndustrial desalinated water and potable-grade water, at the plant gate
  • SiteCoastal land secured, with the associated maritime concession
  • ModelIndependent multi-client supplier under long-term supply contracts
  • StatusEngineering and baseline studies underway; environmental review in preparation
Multi-client model

Water as a service for the sectors that drive the north

Instead of every mine and city building its own plant, Aguas Patillo offers one world-class facility, with capacity contracted client by client and neutrality among users.

01

Mining

Seawater and industrial water for new and existing operations as restrictions tighten on inland water use.

02

Urban drinking water

A new, secure source for Iquique and Alto Hospicio, home to more than 340,000 people who rely today on overdrawn aquifers.

03

New industry

Capacity reserved for what comes next: green hydrogen, lithium, and the non-metallic mining now expanding across Tarapacá.

Aguas Patillo allocates capacity through long-term supply contracts and works with prospective clients during design to size modules and delivery points.

Roadmap

Staged development, built around permitting

  1. Completed

    Site and concession

    Coastal land secured at Bahía de Patillos; the associated maritime concession is in processing.

  2. Underway

    Studies and baseline

    Marine baseline campaigns, preliminary engineering, and early engagement with communities and authorities.

  3. 2027–2029

    Environmental review

    The project enters Chile’s Environmental Impact Assessment System, targeting approval (RCA) in 2029.

  4. Next phase

    Construction and operation

    With permits and supply contracts in place, the project finances and builds the plant and its marine works.

Regulatory framework

A new legal framework for desalination

Chile has placed desalination at the center of its water strategy. Law 21,813, published in May 2026, gives these projects a dedicated legal framework for the first time.

30-year maritime concessions

The law establishes renewable 30-year concessions for desalination plants, giving water-infrastructure investment a long-term horizon.

Desalinated water as a public good

The law declares desalinated water a national asset for public use and gives human consumption first priority, principles fully aligned with a multi-client model that includes city supply.

Backing

Who is behind the project

Aguas Patillo combines North American institutional capital with a Chilean development team that knows the territory, its permits, and its communities.

Partners — BUILD Capital Partners
Brent Jacobsen

Brent Jacobsen

Founding Partner

Leads the investment, governance, and capital structure of Aguas Patillo.

Preston Andrew

Preston Andrew

Founding Partner

Leads the firm’s Latin America practice, on the ground in Chile since 2019.

Josh Tandy

Josh Tandy

Founding Partner

Co-founder and director of Pure Healthcare. Leads legal structure and compliance.

Tyler Dabo

Tyler Dabo

Partner

Leads capital formation and investor relations in the U.S. and Chile.

Mark Green

Mark Green

Partner

One of the principal investors in BUILD’s vehicles.

Development team in Chile
Sebastián Huidobro

Sebastián Huidobro

Attorney — Mining & Water

Specialist in permits, concessions, and water regulation in northern Chile.

Carlos Pérez

Carlos Pérez

Metallurgical Engineer

Leads the technical interface with clients’ industrial processes and water-quality requirements.

Commitment

The territory comes first

A water project prospers only if the territory prospers with it, so Aguas Patillo builds community engagement and environmental care into the design from day one.

Early engagement

Dialogue with neighboring communities, fishing caletas, and local authorities from the study phase, sustained through the entire environmental review.

Environmental standard

Complete marine baseline campaigns, intake and outfall design to international best practice, and a rigorous environmental review before the SEIA.

Contact

Let’s talk about water for your operation

If your company, utility, or project needs a secure, long-term water source in Tarapacá, we want to talk now. Supply contracts are sized at this stage of the design.

Write to us