Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer Kubota Corporation said it has secured a contract to supply one of the world’s biggest membrane bioreactors (MBR) for installation at the Al Ansab Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) project in Oman.

The project, which is the largest STP in the sultanate, is being developed by government-owned utility Haya Water in Muscat Governorate, said a statement from Kubota.

The company said its French subsidiary, Kubota Europe, had been awarded the multimillion dollar order by Korean engineering and construction giant Doosan Heavy Industries Company, which is currently undertaking the Phase II expansion of Al Ansab STP at a cost of around $81 million.

Since Muscat city is rapidly developing its residential and commercial area, the existing STP needs to expand the capacity, said the company in a statement.

Designed to process 125,000 cu m of raw sewage per day, the Kubota unit is expected to be the largest of its kind ever to be installed in the Middle East region.

This is the second win for Kubota as the Japanese firm had already supplied a submerged membrane bioreactor for the Phase One of the Al Ansab STP project in 2010, it stated.

Construction work on the second phase of plant began in August following the award of an Engineering-Procurement-Construction (EPC) contract to Doosan Heavy.

Under the contract, the Korean engineering conglomerate is also responsible for equipment supply and pilot operation.

Based on cutting-edge wastewater treatment technology, the membrane bioreactor process combines the advantages of the membrane process and bioreactor to remove solids, thereby enabling the efficient production of high-quality reclaimed water, while leaving a smaller environmental footprint, said the statement from the company.

The flat-bed membrane system also eliminates pathogenic e-coli bacteria so that treated effluent water can be re-used for municipal irrigation, as well as a range of non-potable outdoor uses, according to the manufacturer.

When completed by around August 2017, the plant will rank among the largest flat-sheet MBR facilities in the world, capable of treating up to 22 million imperial gallons per day of sewage, it added.-TradeArabia News Service