Singapore team visits sewage treatment plant

A high-level delegation from Singapore recently visited the Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant, one of the largest in the Gulf region.
The delegation which was headed by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Co-ordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, included the Minister for Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance Affairs Indranee Rajah, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Mohamed Malki Othman,  Minister of State in the Ministry of National Development & Ministry of Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Wong Kook Bon and Singapore ambassador Amrin Amin. Qatar’s ambassador to Singapore Abdullah bin Ibrahim al-Hamar accompanied the delegation.
Public Works Authority (Ashghal) president Nasser bin Ali al-Mawlawi received the delegation at the plant along with Infrastructure Affairs director Jalal Yousif al-Salhi, Assets Affairs acting director and Drainage Networks Operations & Maintenance Department manager Ahmed Sharif, Drainage Networks Projects Department manager Khalid Saif al-Khayarin and Public Relations and Communications Department manager Abdullah Saad al-Saad.
A delegation from the Ministry of Municipality & Environment, including assistant under-secretary for Public Service Affairs Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser al-Thani and director of Municipal Control Department of the Municipality of Umm Slal Mohamed Lahdan al-Kaabi, were also present.
Al-Mawlawi recalled the co-operation between Qatar and Singapore in sewerage treatment and recycling. He hoped there would be further co-operation with Singaporean companies in different projects similar to the Doha North Sewerage Treatment Plant Project which is being implemented by Keppel Seghers Engineering Singapore Ltd.
The Doha North Sewage Treatment Works (STW), located in Umm Slal Ali, is approximately 25km north of Doha. It uses advanced treatment techniques such as ultra-filtration and ultra-violet technologies to produce high quality treated water which is used in irrigation.
The first phase of the project includes the construction of the main treatment plant for the reception and treatment of sewage, which has been designed to treat up to 245,000 cubic metres of sewage daily, serving a projected population of over 900,000 residents by 2020.
The STW started receiving sewage flows from the main pumping station in Northern Doha (PS70) located in Al Kheesa. The sewage flows are estimated to be 46,000 cubic metres per day. The Doha North STW became fully operational in December 2015 after completing mandatory inspection and testing processes by the Qatari Civil Defence and other entities.
The second phase of the project includes the construction of a Thermal Drying Plant (TDP) within the Doha North STW to processes sludge, the solid materials generated from the sewage treatment process.
The TDP will receive and treat sludge generated from not just Doha North STW but also from all the other sewage treatment works in the country. The sludge is dewatered, processed through the thermal dryers to finally produce dried pellets.
The construction of the TDP is substantially completed and is currently going through final commissioning. The TDP includes four thermal dryers which are currently being tested utilising sludge generated at the Doha North STW and the Doha West STW.
The 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 carefully landscaped to form a lush-green oasis that includes approximately 95,000 trees and 50 picnic areas with interconnecting roads and a bird watching lagoon.
The roads, picnic areas and bird watching lagoon are under construction and the remaining irrigation pipe work and planting are in progress as well as the construction of artificial mounds across the area.
The Doha North Sewage Treatment Plant Project is worth approximately QR3.63bn, including the design and build contract, which is worth approximately QR2.49bn and the operate-and-maintain 10-year contract which is worth approximately QR1.14bn.