DOHA: The QR3.63bn Doha North Sewage Treatment Works (STW) has become operational, with 46,000 cubic metres of sewage flow daily, Public Works Authority (Ashghal) said yesterday.
STW is the first sewage treatment plant in Qatar to use advanced treatment techniques such as ultrafiltration and ultra-violet technologies to produce high quality reclaimed water for use for irrigation. The plant is in Umm Salal Ali, 25km to the north of Doha.
Ultrafiltration is an ultra-membrane filtration technique that separates large molecules and small granules from water. The plant also uses ultra-violet technologies for wastewater treatment
The first phase of the project included construction of the main treatment plant to receive and treat sewage, and has been designed to treat up to 245,000 cubic metres of sewage a day, serving a projected population of over 900,000 people by 2020.
STW has started receiving sewage flows from the main pumping station in northern Doha (PS70) in Al Kheesa. The sewage flows are estimated at 46,000 cubic metres a day.
The Doha North STW became operational last December after a year of inspection and testing processes completed by the Civil Defence and other entities, said a statement.
The second phase of the project includes construction of a thermal drying plant (TDP) within Doha North STW. The TDP will process sludge or solid materials generated from the sewage treatment process to dispose them according to international standards for safe disposal.
It will receive and treat sludge generated from Doha North STW and other sewage treatment works in Qatar. The sludge is dewatered, processed through the thermal dryers to finally produce dried pellets bagged and stored for distribution.
Work has substantially completed and the TDP is going through final commissioning. It includes four thermal dryers being tested utilising sludge generated at Doha North STW and Doha West STW. Two of the thermal dryers are expected to be handed over in the second quarter of this year, while the other two in the third quarter.
Doha North STW is the first facility with comprehensive odour control system to minimise the impact on the surrounding environment. The Buffer Zone surrounding the STW will be landscaped to form a lush-green oasis that includes about 95,000 trees and 50 picnic areas with interconnecting roads and a bird-watching lagoon considered the first of its kind in Qatar.
The roads and picnic areas are ready, and the lagoon is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year. The remaining irrigation pipe work and planting are in progress as well as construction of artificial mounds across the area, which is expected to be completed by mid-2017.
The Doha North Sewage Treatment Works project includes the design and build contract worth about QR2.49bn and the operate and maintain 10-year contract worth about QR1.14bn. The contracts were awarded to “Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore LTD and are expected to be completed in the third quarter of next year.
The Peninsula
