Palm Utilities, a subsidiary of Istithmar World, said it has commissioned the Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant to supply drinking/potable water to the Atlantis and other developments within the Palm Jumeirah's Crescent.

The SWRO project has been part of Palm Utilities' intensified expansion strategy to provide cutting-edge utility solutions to premier development projects in the UAE and across the region.

Utilising Ultra Filtration (UF) as the pre-treatment technology – the first wide-scale use of such technology in the GCC – the SWRO plant supplies drinking/potable water to the Atlantis and other developments within the Palm Jumeirah's Crescent, one of the revolutionary Palm Island trilogy and a vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minister and ruler of Dubai.

Another seawater water treatment facility will be commissioned in mid 2009, increasing the total daily capacity to 64,000 cubic metres, said a top official.

"Palm Jumeirah is a strategically important component of Palm Water's expansion program as it will serve as a showcase project that will highlight the level of quality and sophistication that we offer," said Ahmed Butti, chairman of Palm Utilities.

"A prestigious development project such as Palm Jumeirah will definitely be a key addition to Palm Water's portfolio of high-profile clients, strengthening our reputation as the region's trusted provider of world-class utility services," he remarked.

The sea water treatment projects are part of an agreement that will hand over ownership and ongoing stewardship responsibilities for the water and sewage infrastructure of Palm Jumeirah to Palm Water, Palm Utilities' water utility division.

Under the agreement, Palm Water's scope of work will include sewage collection and transportation; sewage treatment; water treatment; distribution of drinking water, distribution of irrigation and fire fighting water; distribution of industrial water; and collection of chiller blowdown water for Palm Jumeirah, he said.

Palm Water will utilise a combination of gravity system, pumping stations and vacuum sewer system to collect and transport sewage from the Palm Jumeirah's Trunk, Fronds, Spine and Crescent to the two Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), which are all equipped with MBR technology.

The STP on the Trunk (SU2) is a three-tiered underground facility approximately 80 metres in diameter and 30 metres deep and has the capacity to treat 18,000 m3/day, while the Crescent STP has a capacity of up to 17,000 cubic metres and treats all sewage from the Crescent.

The distribution of the drinking water is being done through a network of high-pressure pipelines, while irrigation and fire-fighting water is supplied from SU2 using polished effluent or TSE.

Working in tandem with Palm District Cooling (PDC), Palm Utilities' district cooling division, Palm Water has installed a 17,000 m3/day polishing plant at the SU2 to supply polished TSE to the chiller plants through a dedicated industrial water main.

The water supplied to the chiller plants completes five circuits of the chilled water system before the salt content increases beyond the allowable level. When this occurs, the water is “blown down” from the chilled water system back to SU2, Butti added.

Palm Utilities, through PDC and Palm Water, has been established to address the region's unique requirements in the distinctly critical areas of district cooling, and water utility.

On top of its expansion activities within the UAE, Palm Utilities has also revealed plans to pursue new core business activities within other utilities, including sustainable energy and environmental waste management.

The company also plans to expand its operations overseas and has initiated talks for new business prospects with potential partners in the Middle East, India and the re