Swiss engineering company ABB has partnered with the world's largest wastewater treatment plant, the Bahr El Bakar facility located on the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, to help the country overcome water scarcity issues.
The Bahr El Bakar water treatment facility is run as a joint venture between The Arab Contractors and Orascom Construction. Credit: The Arab Contractors
The record-breaking plant will help deliver over 5.6 million cubic metres of treated water per day - equivalent to roughly 2,000 Olympic swimming pools - which could help revitalise over 140,000 hectares of farmland east of the Suez Canal.
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Started as a joint venture between The Arab Contractors and Orascom, the plant is considered a vital step in helping to alleviate the country's water shortages.
Several factors, from insufficient irrigation techniques to population growth and adverse effects from climate change have led to water shortages in Egypt in recent years.
The country is currently facing a water deficit of 7 billion cubic metres annually and is becoming more and more dependent on the Nile river for its agricultural sector and water scarcity poses real risks to the population not having access to clean drinking water.
The scheme is also working alongside various government programmes to "improve the environment", create new jobs and help actively tackle its drinking water issue. The schemes will also look to improve on existing infrastructure to expand on cultivation, particularly on the Sinai peninsula.
“Providing resilient, energy-efficient, and cost-effective technology to [the El Bakar] plant will help meet the needs of population growth and the changing landscape of this remote area in Egypt", according to Loay Dajani, the managing director of ABB's Egyptian arm. "It is an honour for ABB to provide a full package of products and solutions to this project, which will help better manage natural resources, raise efficiency, and upscale a limited water supply for agriculture.
"Our involvement in this project helps demonstrate how safe and smart technology can contribute to sustainable development in the country", he added.
ABB will also be providing a gateway for the project to make use of increased automation and electrification to make it more renewable across the value chain.
The firm's input will also allow for the facility to create its own microgrid to support infrastructure development and operations at the plant, including the installing of new technologies to ensure the plant can handle the large quantities of water treatment needed to tackle Egypt's issues.
The project's director, Ehab Girgis, described it as "one of the key strategic pillars" supporting national efforts to aid in the Bahr El Bakar facility, which is considered a vital part of plans to develop the Sinai peninsula into arable and viable farmland.
Girgis represents the joint venture between Orascom and Arab Contractors, who are now operating the plant.
"Working together with ABB on this contract will help realize an important milestone of the plans for this region and expand the cultivated areas in Sinai, providing local food security for citizens, and better manage water resources for agricultural and industrial projects,” he added.
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The Bahr El Bakar plant currently hold three Guinness World records, one for being the largest water treatment plant in the world, the second for being the world's largest sludge treatment plant, and the third for being the largest single operator ozone-generating plant.
It is expected to run operations entirely on renewable energy. The plant was recently inaugurated by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
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