Aquator Group, one of the UK's leading wastewater treatment companies opens its Middle East office in Bahrain this month. The move follows nearly a year of presence in the country, where a pilot plant has been operating for over seven months.

"The Ministry of Works, Sewage and Drainage Directorate, together with Aquator, undertook trials of Submerged Membrane Bioreactor technology in Bahrain's main sewage treatment plant in Tubli Bay last April," says Matt Dickinson, director. "The pilot plant has proved successful in treating effluent to an agreed standard and has coped successfully with very high ambient temperatures and with septic sewage."

Encouraged by the initial success the company has enjoyed in Bahrain, Aquator will be promoting its range of waste water treatment systems at the Big 5 show in Dubai.

Among the products on display at the show will be the Aquator house unit which can be used as a replacement, or enhancement, for septic tanks, thereby reducing the amount of tanker waste being transported.

"Also promoted at the show will be the company's package plants which can serve up to 3,000 people and bespoke designs for 3,000-100,000 people.

"The largest waste water treatment facility we have set up has a 800,000 population-equivalent capacity. However, these units are totally scalable, size is no problem," Dickinson points out.

"We will be targeting not only at the municipal sectors but also commercial facilities such as hotels and hospitals to encourage them to reuse their waste water for irrigation, flushing etc and thus cut their water consumption and conserve this precious resource," says Dickinson.

"In hotels, for example, large quantities of water literally go down the drain and are flushed out. This water can be recycled and utilised by the hotel for irrigation and in flushing toilets," says Dickinson,

He stresses the importance of recycling water especially in the Gulf region where the groundwater reserves are rapidly depleting and desalination is an expensive option.

Aquator Group utilises the MBR process to treat wastewater to a very high standard for non-potable applications. At the heart of its water treatment facilities is the Kubota flat sheet membrane.

MBR achieves better than 5:5:5 (BOD, suspended solids and ammonia). The technology offers direct safe discharge into rivers or the sea and many opportunities to reuse the final effluent. It has a very small footprint, can be fully automated and produces a fully disinfected effluent. In addition, it does not require primary clarification and regular cleaning - which can typically be done twice a year.

The company has more than 800 plants in operation worldwide including more than 520 municipal sewage treatment applications and more than 360 industrial applications. These include dairy, textile, food processing, pharmaceutical and maritime treatments, amongst others.

The company provides solutions across a wide variety of wastewater treatment environments. These include household units and compact modular plants that can be loaded or unloaded from a low loader. They are suitable for new or existing housing developments, hotels, hospitals, oil rigs, labour housing, temporary conurbations, office blocks, hotels and bespoke plants for towns and cities.

According to general manager Robert Wakefield, the MBR process produces virtually odour-free, high-quality discharged water and has minimal space and energy requirements. It is able to handle a diverse range of liquid wastes and treat them in a single stage to meet and exceed the highest regulatory regulations, he says. "Compared to conventional waste water treatment plants, they do not require a lot of space and they can be installed anywhere as they do not need to discharge to the sea. The cost and size of MBR plants make on-site treatment attractive and economic. MBR offers a physical barrier to ensure high-quality/low rick effluent. Normal operating circumstances do not require costly chemicals for the treatment process.''

"Another important advantage is that it eliminates all risk of a catastrophic failure as there is no chance that the filter will fail -unless it is deliberately torn," Dickinson points out.

"In fact, because of the high quality of the discharge permeate (water), MBR was the natural choice for a project at Picnic Bay on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia where the treatment of wastewater is required to be the most complete, advanced and effective of its kind available today and for the foreseeable future."

Wakefield is full of praise for the support the company has received from Bahrain's Ministry of Works and the Sewage and Drainage Directorate, "which gave us a great deal of assistance in conducting our tests and were very interested in the new technology we have to offer," he says. "This probably stems from Bahrain's eargerness to be a leader in wastewater treatment technology."

The Bahrain office, which will have engineering and design skills as well as sales support, will serve the entire region. Sales offices have been set up in Dubai and Oman and the group is looking at opening its Saudi office in Riyadh by the end of the year. The Bahrain-based operation is also looking at training Bahrainis "right from the ground level to the scientific level", Dickinson adds.