Sharqiyah Desalination Company

In January 2015 the award of the expansion project to the Sharqiyah Desalination Company in the Sultanate of Oman, in Sur, was announced — an agreement to carry out the expansion project of the Sur water desalination plant (the current plant), which has a production capacity of about 80,000 cubic metres and lies about 160 kilometres south-west of Muscat. Under the amended water-purchase agreement with the government-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company, the company, whose operations are led by the Veolia corporation, adds 51,000 cubic metres to what is today considered the largest independent water project in the Sultanate of Oman.

Xavier Joseph, managing director of the Veolia corporation in the Gulf states, said: "With the growing population, the scarcity of resources and the increasing need for water have made an increasing focus on the means of conserving water in the Sultanate of Oman necessary. The Sur desalination plant has contributed significantly to reducing the environmental impact of the seawater desalination process through energy-recovery devices. This project once again highlights Veolia corporation's strong commitment to the Sultanate of Oman."

The additional water resources produced by the project after the expansion — expected to be completed by mid-2016 — will help meet the anticipated demand for potable water in the Al Sharqiyah region. The plant's total output is expected to reach about 131,000 cubic metres per day, enabling the plant to provide drinking water to about 600,000 people.

The Sur desalination plant — which is the largest plant in the world operating with reverse-osmosis technology — today provides pure, drinkable water to nearly 350,000 people among the residents of the Al Sharqiyah region. Reverse-osmosis technology is based on pushing the water, which is subjected to high pressure, to pass through a semi-permeable membrane, which separates the salt, bacteria and other particles, allowing clean, pure water to be obtained.

For his part, Philippe Boulisant, project manager of the expanded Sur plant, said: "We are proud to have reached this stage, and we will remain committed to helping the Sultanate of Oman meet its strict environmental goals and to ensuring the delivery of drinking water to the Al Sharqiyah region."

The Sur water desalination plant was built in 2007 by the companies "OTV" — a subsidiary of the Veolia Water corporation — and Bahwan Engineering, and is currently operated by the Bahwan Veolia Water company, the joint venture between Bahwan and the Veolia Water company.

The Sur water desalination plant makes great efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the desalination process. Two prominent aspects are:

Energy recovery and reuse owing to energy-recovery devices (ERD):
reduces the impact of operations on the environment as well as operating expenses
An innovative water intake relying on beach wells:
allows for lighter pre-treatment (thanks to natural sand filtration) and allows for better water quality