Dubai to Build Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Plant

Dubai, UAE—Ahmed Butti, Chairman of Palm Utilities and Jean-Louis Chaussade, CEO of SUEZ Environment, signed an agreement on Sunday to build $800 million water treatment plant as part of a major real estate development in Dubai.

The contract also covers the installation and operation of a system to collect sewage and distribute treated water spanning nearly 40 kilometers.

“SUEZ Environment has acquired a solid reputation in the Gulf countries as a highly reliable partner with unique skills and expertise,” stated Chaussade. “The task of a benchmark player like SUEZ Environment is to provide its technological know-how and assist the country in its sustainable development initiative.”

Jumeirah Golf Estates real estate complex is located 22 km southwest of Dubai’s business district. As a new development, it will mix residential neighborhoods laid out among several golf courses, which will be maintained with recycled water, coming from the new plant. Nakheel, Dubai’s first real estate developer, granted a 30-year concession to Palm Water to develop this project.

The wastewater treatment plant will be the largest sewage treatment plant in the world using Membrane BioReactor (MBR) technology and will be able to process 220,000 cubic meters of water a day for a population estimated at 900,000 inhabitants.

The ultra filtration will guarantee the good quality of the treated water, reused for landscaping purposes. The sludge will be treated by a Degremont digestion technology combined with a boosting system to reduce the volume of sludge produced and provide biogas for use in the operation the plant.

In addition, Degremont will dry the sludge using the Innodry process for a 70 percent further reduction in volume. The process dries the sludge without producing dust, thereby ensuring a very safe operation.

On the 2005-2015 period of time, it’s estimated that $7 billion should be invested in wastewater treatment plants in the Middle East and Africa. Over the same time, nearly $14 billion could be spent on desalination infrastructure in the Persian Golf and Red Sea regions.