MUSCAT -- The Al Ansab Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), one of Galfar's prestigious projects, is the largest sewage treatment plant to have been commissioned in the Sultanate and was built on behalf of Haya Water. Commissioned in 2009, it is also one of the largest plants operating in the world with flat-sheet membrane, popularly known as membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology.
Having a capacity of 53,830 m3/day, the plant is based on the state-of-the-art MBR technology. MBR is an advanced activated sludge treatment process that uses membranes to filter out suspended solids, including harmful microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria and cysts that traditional clarifier or sedimentation system cannot remove.
The MBR technology is the final stage in Haya Water's innovative water reuse project for Muscat Governorate and produces treated effluent that is used for a wide range of irrigation purposes across Muscat. Galfar had bagged the Haya Water contract in 2005 against stiff competition from major water and wastewater treatment companies around the world. Located in south Muscat, the Al Ansab STP is currently treating wastewater generated from Al Ghubra, Al Athaiba, Al Khuwair and Al Qurum areas.
The sewage network with pumping stations, which is a separate contract, will collect the sewage from every household. The central pumping station in Athaiba will receive wastewater from all the areas, and it will finally pump the sewage to Al Ansab STP.
"The Al Ansab STP project is one of the milestone projects of Haya Water aimed at improving the sanitary systems in Muscat city, and Galfar is proud have constructed this major project that advances the quality of life and environment in the city," said J K Salvi, Vice-President (Business Development and Tendering) of Galfar.
The quality of treated water produced at Al Ansab STP is so good that it can be used for various purposes such as irrigation, beautification, landscaping, gardening, cleaning, toilet flushing and other industrial requirements. It has also been developed with the option to double capacity to nearly 110,000 cubic metres per day in the future.
"We are delighted with the success of this project, thanks to the engineering skills, technology and ability of Galfar to deliver the world's largest submerged MBR plant that is now successfully operational and delivering millions of cubic metres of treated effluent for irrigation and other environmental projects in the Muscat governorate," Salvi added.
The plant plays a vital part in helping to reduce the dependence of Muscat on other water sources ensuring a constant supply of renewable treated effluent that will help achieve the goal of making Muscat a better city.
"The STP has been a landmark project for Galfar and it clearly proves the company's ability to execute big process plants. The plant has received accolades from experts who visited the site. These specialists appreciated the high quality of standards being employed for the project," Mushtaq Khan, General Manager-Utilities & Services of Galfar added.
Galfar's engineering team executed all the electro-mechanical instrumentation and SCADA works. For the first time, the company's site project team worked on the full detailed engineering. The STP is SCADA equipped to extremely high standards with minimal manual intervention and also the whole plant has been engineered in a way keeping in mind the easy accessibility for maintenance.
Subsequently, the sewage treatment plant project in Darsait was awarded to Galfar Cadagua JV by Haya Water as the company's water reuse project continues to grow and expand.
© Oman Daily Observer 2012
