Wade drainage products have been used throughout the Middle East, for more than 25 years.

"Nickel bronze gratings are particularly suited to places where large numbers of people walk through. Such gratings, manufactured by Wade, have been used in heavily-trafficked areas such as the airports at Dubai (UAE) and Doha (Qatar), taxi and bus station at Beirut (Lebanon) and shopping malls such as the Seef Mall in Bahrain and Mohalad and Souk Al Zal in Kuwait," says a spokesman for the Wade International (UK).

Hotels, hospitals, villas, banks and health/sports centres, all have drainage requirements which can be addressed generally by standard products, he says.

"Yet when a specifier or client has a requirement for something out of the ordinary, Wade has shown it has the will and capability to design and manufacture something to suit. An example is the floral gratings which were designed for the RGO Mosque at Muscat, Oman. These gratings of satin finish nickel bronze can be used with a range of cast iron drains or traps, or installed in frames or channel," he adds.

For special residences, Wade offers a range of gratings of polished bronze or stainless steel in addition to decorative versions of nickel bronze.

The spokesman continues: "Very different requirements at Jahra Meat and Fish Market, the Central Slaughterhouse at Kuwait and a food factory at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have been accommodated with stainless steel mesh gratings or hinged access covers of nickel bronze.

"At landmark buildings such as at Jumeirah Beach Resort in Dubai and the Al Faisaliah Centre in Riyadh, Wade grease converters have been installed to prevent grease blocking pipes and drains."

Elaborating on these grease converters, he says: "This is a modern, hygienic and environmentally-friendly means whereby micro-organisms convert grease permanently to bio-degradable products without the use of toxic chemicals.

"Since 1990, the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene has annually awarded its Certificate of Hygienic Merit to Wade for the Actimatic Grease Converter."

Wade takes pride in offering products to suit particular kinds of floor finish or roof construction and in 1996 introduced an electronic catalogue to assist the selection of the most suitable product for a given application.

This month, a new version of the CD-ROM will be issued featuring advanced search and selection facilities.

"Representatives with a sound product knowledge are essential to provide support at the design stage for the increasing number of local specifiers, whilst contractors frequently need prompt service to deal with matters on-site," the spokesman says.

"Wade has appointed as distributors highly-respected, well-established concerns throughout the region, many of whom have been promoting Wade for more than 10 years,'' he says.

"Based in the UK, Wade manufactures under a quality management system which complies with British Standard BS 5750 and International Standard ISO 9002. ''

"This certification was acquired as long ago as 1987 and is testimony to a commitment to quality which places Wade at the forefront in responding to worldwide demand for higher standards of hygiene and safety in and around buildings."