MUSCAT - The Public Authority for Water and Electricity (PAEW) achieved another milestone in water supply with the containerised mobile desalination plant at Al Ghubrah going on stream. Work on the desalination plant, which uses the concept of reverse osmosis to produce potable water to cater to the needs of residents in the Muscat region, was completed recently. Presently, water treated by the plant is being pumped to the main reservoir in Ghubra for supply.
"The plant is distinguished for its mobility thanks to the flexibility in its dismantling. It can be moved to any area of the Omani coast in parts or as a whole if the need arises," Zahir al Suleimani, Director-General of Projects, PAEW, told the Observer. The plant uses 24 SWRO units to convert daily around 65,000 cubic metres of sea water into 22,700 cubic metres of drinking water. Septech Muscat LLC, which was given the contract of EPC (engineering, operation and construction), will be operating and maintaining the plant for a period of three years.
The new plant, with a cost of RO 17.6 million, is designed to reduce the Sultanate's reliance on pumping water from natural underground aquifers. Operation and maintenance of the plant will cost RO 8.715 million. "The country is now moving towards supplying water fully through desalination without depending on groundwater," he said adding, Oman will not face water shortage in the future, because any disruption in the supply from the plants will be supplemented by emergency groundwater.
Zaher said: "Electricity and water projects have been included in the national Five-Year Plans in the past 40 years for their effective contribution in the progress of social, economic, commercial and other sectors. Although demand for electricity and water has grown manifold, their supply has not been affected and all-out efforts are being made to reach their services to all villages and towns in Oman despite the difficult geographical hindrances at times."
The Public Authority for Electricity and Water, a governmental institution is engaged in building, operating and maintaining the water plants and water network systems in the Sultanate. Though desalination plants follow a simple procedure, they are built on large scale. In the pre-treatment stage, suspended solids are filtered out and filtered water is then forced through a series of membranes to produce permeate. The pores in the membranes let water molecules through, but rejects salt particles and other unwanted minerals. The permeate from the plant is then added to Oman's water supply, and the waste product i.e., brine is discharged back to the sea.
The projects include expansion of water distribution network in Al Amerat, Seeb and Boushar, building the main water carrying line from Wadi Adai to Amerat, erection of emergency reservoirs in Muscat Governorate and improving the present water supply system for Barka, Mawaleh and Boushar. Works on expanding the reservoir at Upper Bousher have started to enhance the storing capacity of the distribution network, he informed. Main work on expansion of Al Qurum reservoirs has been completed.
The project involved building of two reservoirs having capacities of 5,700 M3 and 13,000 M3.
Expansion of Wadi Kabeer reservoirs is progressing and it involves building of ground water reservoir of capacity 18,200 M3, replacing a number of pumps in the main distribution line in addition to building two elevated reservoirs with a capacity of 170 M3 each. Expansion of the water network in Muttrah is also under way. Work is progressing on the project to supply water to Quariyat is expected to be complete soon, informed Zaher, adding, 80 per cent of the work is already over. Implementation of the project for installing the monitoring and measurement devices for water leak for Muscat network has already started, the director-general of the project said.
© Oman Daily Observer 2010
