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Bluewater Bio, recognised as the fastest-growing UK and European water solutions provider, has recently completed their landmark upgrade to the wastewater treatment plant at Tubli, Kingdom of Bahrain. The $36.5m project, involving over 500,000 man-hours of work, was completed without a single lost-time incident. The scheme was backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF).
SMART Units installed at Tubli WPCC
This project marks the company’s second large contract executed at Tubli – which is the biggest wastewater treatment plant in the country – serving a population equivalent of c. 1.2 million. Bluewater Bio was responsible for all aspects of engineering, acting as EPC contractor and technology supplier. A further 220 MLD of clean water is now available for reuse whilst protecting the local environment.
Now that the performance test is complete – meeting or exceeding all Client objectives – Bluewater Bio will operate and maintain the new plant alongside another HYBACS plant installed previously.
Richard Haddon, Executive Chairman of Bluewater Bio, commented: “I am pleased to say that we have successfully completed our second large contract at Tubli, further supporting the Kingdom of Bahrain in meeting their water and environmental goals. The implementation of HYBACS has not only helped with their water strategy, but has done so without using any additional land, a key consideration in Bahrain.”
Roderick Drummond, HM British Ambassador to Bahrain said: “This project will no doubt improve the lives of residents living and working in the Tubli Bay Area. Environmental regeneration projects such as this, executed via British-Bahraini collaboration, further highlights the positive impact our respective countries can achieve together.”
“Bluewater Bio is an excellent example for UK companies looking to trade overseas. They provide technical solutions that are best-in-class, adhere to the highest standards of health & safety, and commit to establishing long-term partnerships with their Clients.”
The challenges posed by water scarcity and water security has continued to move up the political and social agenda in recent years. Whilst climate change is a well-worn phrase that is ever-present in the lexicon of governments and the public around the world, the increasing stresses felt on our most precious resource, water, has without doubt led to the following conclusion: THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS A WATER CRISIS.
But talk is cheap. Whilst world-class, efficient and sustainable solutions and technologies are required, they need to be met with ambitious countries who ‘walk the walk’ and forge ahead in actually implementing solutions to stop the water crisis. The Kingdom of Bahrain and Bluewater Bio is one such example of this collaborative approach.
Bluewater Bio – recognised as being the fastest growing UK water technology company for 2 consecutive years – recently completed their ground-breaking HYBACS upgrade at Tubli Wastewater Treatment Works. This is the second large-scale project executed by Bluewater Bio in Bahrain.
The marquee project has met or exceeded all Client objectives and expectations, increasing the availability of clean water in the water scarce Kingdom and protecting the local environment. Furthermore, the power consumed by the upgraded plant – a costly operational expense – is just 170 Wh/m3 treated, less than half the target set by the client making it an extremely efficient solution.
The project was backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), who have stringent criteria in place in ensuring only the most environmentally-friendly companies and technologies are employed.
As a responsible contractor Bluewater Bio ensured everyone went home safely at the end of each day. The $36.5m project involved over 500,000 man-hours of work and was completed without a single lost time incident. No complaints were received as measures were successfully employed to protect neighbouring houses and businesses from noise and dust during construction as well.
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive of Bluewater Bio, Richard Haddon said, “I am pleased to say that we have successfully completed our second large contract at Tubli, further supporting the Kingdom of Bahrain in meeting their water and environmental goals. The implementation of HYBACS has not only helped with their water strategy, but has done so without using any additional land, a key consideration in Bahrain.”
HYBACS – A novel solution for a common problem
Throughout the Middle East region, rapid population growth has resulted in many wastewater treatment facilities becoming overloaded and failing to meet environmental discharge standards. Conventional solutions, such as the construction of additional aeration lanes is expensive and requires large areas of land.
The HYBACS process uses a unique biological pre-treatment reactor to accelerate the hydrolysis step within wastewater treatment. This enables an existing activated sludge plant to treat typically double the flow and load. HYBACS delivers on performance, value and demonstrably outperforms competing technologies. The patented process has been applied successfully around the world and has proven to be robust and highly cost effective. It has also demonstrated Capital cost savings of over 50%, typically consumes up to 30% less power than alternatives and requires less maintenance.
Environmental Objectives
Whether designing a brownfield expansion or a greenfield facility, Bluewater Bio works with Clients to develop sustainable solutions with a particular emphasis on reducing CAPEX and OPEX, footprint and energy consumption.
Bluewater Bio’s depth of experience comes from more than 40 HYBACS references across the globe. Proven at scale and consistently performing to the highest international standards, HYBACS is rapidly gaining recognition as an ideal solution for upgrading and expanding wastewater treatment plants in the MENA region.
The increasing standards in policy for wastewater management have created an urgent need for the reuse and recycling of treated wastewater, which will help alleviate water scarcity in the region. HYBACS underlines the importance of using technologies that deliver long-term sustainable solutions.
(Article originally published in Utilities Middle East, March 2022)
The work on the second phase of the project to improve the efficiency of the biological processing of sewage at the Tubli Centre using the high-tech HYBACS system is on track for completion within the second quarter of this year, said Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf, during a visit to the Tubli treatment works.
The minister praised the team’s efforts and commitment to safety standards, with more than 200,000 working hours without injuries so far.
(To read the full article originally published in GDN Online, March 2021, click here)