Ajman Wastewater Treatment Plant

A textbook example of wastewater management

Since 2006, Ajman Sewerage (ASPCL) has played a central role in managing the wastewater of the Emirate of Ajman. The company brings together BESIX, which owns 40%, the Government of Ajman (GoA) (40%) and VEOLIA (20%). ASPCL, the first PPP in the Middle East in this field, built Ajman's entire wastewater collection network and treatment facilities, which were previously nonexistent. ASPCL still operates this infrastructure and continues to expand them by integrating new technologies. In 2019, BESIX enabled the plant to generate electricity using biogas produced by the wastewater treatment processes. A first in the region.

The first successful wastewater treatment PPP scheme in the region

In the past, the Emirate of Ajman had no sewage treatment infrastructure. Through a combination of septic tanks and tanker transportation, wastewater was disposed of in an open lagoon, creating many environmental problems. Water is a scarce resource. Treatment, therefore, offers an alternative source that is both sustainable and economically advantageous. With the GoA, BESIX has played a pioneering role in this field. By establishing a modern sewerage system in Ajman, ASPCL has eliminated the risks to public health and environment linked to the discharge of untreated water.

Ajman Sewerage is a strategic asset for the Emirate as it delivers invaluable services to the population. I look forward to tackling the many challenges ahead: introducing new policies, further extending the reuse of water in its broadest sense, and testing new technologies.

25-year PPP (Public Private Partnership)

The partnership is based on a BOOT concession structure with collection risk shared between the concession company, the government and BESIX Equity Investment.

Clean water for the whole of Ajman

In 2016, Six Construct was rehired by ASPCL to design and build an extension to the Ajman wastewater treatment plant. Since its completion in 2018, 450 kilometres of underground sewers collect wastewater from 175,000 households and transport it via different pumping stations to the treatment plant on the outskirts of the city of Ajman. The wastewater treatment plant processes this water, but also wastewater from buildings not yet connected to the sewerage network. That wastewater is delivered to the plant by tank trucks. The wastewater treatment plant has a capacity of 140,000m³, making it the most important treatment plan in Ajman.

The wastewater, once treated, can be reused. 40% of it is used for unrestricted irriation of all of Ajman's landscape and greenery. 10% of the water is treated to an even higher standard by SAFI, and used for commercial and industrial applications. The plant operates 24/7 with an advanced management system, including preventive maintenance.

The story continues

Six Construct was entrusted to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction for the expansion of ASPCL’s existing wastewater treatment plant in Ajman's Al Jurf Industrial area. The new plant is set to increase the treatment capacity to 120,000 m³/day.