PHOTO
25 July 2016
Muscat - Potable water from the Wadi Dayqah reservoir -- the largest surface water reservoir in the Sultanate -- is expected to begin flowing into the water grid supplying parts of Muscat Governorate by early 2019, according to Oman's Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW). The initiative will help go some way in alleviating the escalating trend in potable water demand growth being witnessed in the capital region, which accounts for a sizable part of aggregate water demand in the Sultanate.
Plans drawn up by the PAEW envisage a supply of around 67,000 cubic metres per day (15 million gallons per day - MIGD) from the Wadi Dayqah reservoir in Qurayyat Wilayat. This capacity is roughly the equivalent of a mid-sized Independent Water Project (IWP).
When operational in Q1 2019, it will represent the first ever effort by Oman's authorities to tap a surface water reservoir for potable water distribution purposes. Current water demand is served almost entirely via seawater desalination, with the balance met by groundwater supplies.
"PAEW has assessed the average capacity of the Wadi Dayqah project for drinking water purposes at 67,000 m3/d. The balance of productive capacity is reserved for agricultural irrigation. In an emergency, for short durations, the agricultural supply may be diverted for drinking water, with total capacity up to 125,000 m3/d," the state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) said in its recently published 7-Year Outlook Statement (2016-2022).
Last year, the government announced it was investing around RO 79 million in the so-called Wadi Dayqah Water Treatment and Conveyancing Project designed to harness the prodigious capacity the Wadi Dayqah reservoir. Of this amount, around RO 68 million was committed in Islamic financing by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
At the heart of the project is a water treatment plant proposed to be built at Mazara just three kilometres downstream of the Wadi Dayqah reservoir. It also includes 50 kilometres of water transmission lines that will supply treated water from Wadi Dayqah reservoir to a new 10,000 cubic metre capacity reservoir planned at Deem in Wilayat Al Amerat, and a pumping station.
Pending the completion of the Wadi Dayqah water project, OPWP -- which is the sole procurer of new power generation and water desalination capacity in the Sultanate -- has contracted temporary water capacity to address supply shortfalls anticipated in the interim.
The Qurayyat Temporary Water Project, as it is called, is an 8,000 cubic metres/day (1.8 MIGD) capacity reverse osmosis based desalination plant that was scheduled to come into operation last month.
Muscat Water LLC was awarded the contract by OPWP to install and operate the temporary capacity for a period of two years, extendable for another four years. "This project provides water supply to Qurayyat town until completion of PAEW's Wadi Dayqah project," said OPWP.
Meanwhile, construction is also well underway on a new Independent Water Plant at Qurayyat. Owned by Qurayyat Desalination Company, the 200,000 cubic metres/day (44 MIGD) capacity plant is scheduled to come into operation in May 2017.
Muscat - Potable water from the Wadi Dayqah reservoir -- the largest surface water reservoir in the Sultanate -- is expected to begin flowing into the water grid supplying parts of Muscat Governorate by early 2019, according to Oman's Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW). The initiative will help go some way in alleviating the escalating trend in potable water demand growth being witnessed in the capital region, which accounts for a sizable part of aggregate water demand in the Sultanate.
Plans drawn up by the PAEW envisage a supply of around 67,000 cubic metres per day (15 million gallons per day - MIGD) from the Wadi Dayqah reservoir in Qurayyat Wilayat. This capacity is roughly the equivalent of a mid-sized Independent Water Project (IWP).
When operational in Q1 2019, it will represent the first ever effort by Oman's authorities to tap a surface water reservoir for potable water distribution purposes. Current water demand is served almost entirely via seawater desalination, with the balance met by groundwater supplies.
"PAEW has assessed the average capacity of the Wadi Dayqah project for drinking water purposes at 67,000 m3/d. The balance of productive capacity is reserved for agricultural irrigation. In an emergency, for short durations, the agricultural supply may be diverted for drinking water, with total capacity up to 125,000 m3/d," the state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) said in its recently published 7-Year Outlook Statement (2016-2022).
Last year, the government announced it was investing around RO 79 million in the so-called Wadi Dayqah Water Treatment and Conveyancing Project designed to harness the prodigious capacity the Wadi Dayqah reservoir. Of this amount, around RO 68 million was committed in Islamic financing by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
At the heart of the project is a water treatment plant proposed to be built at Mazara just three kilometres downstream of the Wadi Dayqah reservoir. It also includes 50 kilometres of water transmission lines that will supply treated water from Wadi Dayqah reservoir to a new 10,000 cubic metre capacity reservoir planned at Deem in Wilayat Al Amerat, and a pumping station.
Pending the completion of the Wadi Dayqah water project, OPWP -- which is the sole procurer of new power generation and water desalination capacity in the Sultanate -- has contracted temporary water capacity to address supply shortfalls anticipated in the interim.
The Qurayyat Temporary Water Project, as it is called, is an 8,000 cubic metres/day (1.8 MIGD) capacity reverse osmosis based desalination plant that was scheduled to come into operation last month.
Muscat Water LLC was awarded the contract by OPWP to install and operate the temporary capacity for a period of two years, extendable for another four years. "This project provides water supply to Qurayyat town until completion of PAEW's Wadi Dayqah project," said OPWP.
Meanwhile, construction is also well underway on a new Independent Water Plant at Qurayyat. Owned by Qurayyat Desalination Company, the 200,000 cubic metres/day (44 MIGD) capacity plant is scheduled to come into operation in May 2017.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
