Weir Group associate company Wesco has won a five-year contract, worth nearly £7 million ($11 million), to operate and maintain Abu Dhabi's main sewage treatment plants, at Mafraq.

''The agreement, signed by Abu Dhabi Municipality, the owner, is the largest of its type awarded in the UAE and possibly in the Middle East. It complements a separate contract under which Wesco operates three sewage plants in the Western Region,'' says Gordon Wingate, Wesco general manager. "It also establishes Wesco as a leading player in the O&M (operation and maintenance) business in the water and wastewater sector, which has traditionally been dominated by utilities."

Weir beat off strong competition, including an international water utility, to land the deal, which forms part of a major drive to carry out more "asset and facilities management" in the water and wastewater industry, both at home and overseas, he says.

Under the deal, Wesco, working in conjunction with the Glasgow-based Weir Engineering Services, is responsible for the total operation and maintenance of two sewage treatment plants running in parallel at Mafraq. The consulting engineer is Hyder Consulting.