Over 90 international and regional drainage, sewage, flood control and dam construction experts joined key representatives from Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, Muscat Municipality, Haya Water, National Survey Authority - Ministry of Defence, Oman Water Society at the first annual Drainage Rehabilitation and Flood Control conference which took place on the 1st and 2nd of September at Golden Tulip Seeb Hotel in Muscat.
Eng. Mahmoud Al Soud, General Manager - Operations and Maintenance from Haya Water provided an overview of Haya Water's existing Infrastructure; it's challenges during storm events and strategy for system rehabilitation. The presentation touched base on the challenges of sewerage existing facilities during rain events such as ingress of storm water into the sewerage network backing up and overflowing at lowest points, surface water carrying grit, sand and rubbish into the sewerage network leading to blockages in the network and potential damages to the equipment, High incoming flow received at pumping station and Sewage Treatment Plants (STP's) is above design capacity flooding the facilities. Due to rain, the sewerage networks, the pumping station and the STPs are not coping with flow leading to potential overflows and property damage. Sewage overflows pollute waterways threatening public health and the environment, and during rain events manholes are misused to drain the storm water creating a safety hazard to public.
Haya Water's strategy is to monitor the condition of sewerage network in a continuous basis by using CCTV technology. Based on the sewers' conditions, rehabilitation and/or replacement projects will be identified including rehabilitation of pipelines, manholes or entire networks replacement. The main recommendation that came out of the summit was that the surface water and rain water should have a separate drainage system.
The conference discussed many challenges and issues that the country faces when it comes to floods and drainage rehabilitation. Experts in flood control, drainage rehabilitation and dam construction spoke about different case studies relating to the Sultanate of Oman and what measures can be taken to ensure the safety of the citizens.
The conference included presentations from local authorities such as Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, Muscat Municipality, Haya Water, National Survey Authority - Ministry of Defence Oman, Oman Water Society and international authorities such as Ministry of Works-Kingdom of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi Municipality, UNESCO, Iranian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, Egyptian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ENCID) and many more.
When asked about the success of the conference, Eng. Mahmoud Al Soud said "A very good initiative has started in Oman. It has brought all the stakeholders concerned with storm water drainage rehabilitation & flood control together to exchange information". The second edition of Drainage Rehabilitation & Flood Control will take place from 7 - 8 September 2015 in Muscat.
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SOURCE: GEC OMAN
© Press Release 2014
