PURON® MBR at Ma’amir Sewage Treatment Plant Reaches 1-Year Milestone

Approximately 1 year ago, the Kingdom of Bahrain Minister of Works, Essam bin Abdulla Khalaf, inaugurated a new sewage treatment plant at Ma'amir. The landmark project was the first of its kind in the Kingdom to adopt advanced wastewater treatment technology. Koch Membrane Systems (KMS), a leading supplier of wastewater treatment systems, provided its PURON® membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology to the project. Ma'amir is located about 15 km south of Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The sewage treatment plant project is part of a larger sanitation project in the region which links the industrial area and all unconnected houses of Ma'amir to the sewage network. The project was designed and built by the Zohal Construction Company who has an agreement to operate and maintain the facility for the first 2 years. The PURON MBR system treats the municipal effluent of the village as well as effluent from nearby industrial areas. It is designed to meet stringent surface discharge limits for various parameters like BOD, total suspended solids, as well as total nitrogen and phosphate limits. The plant produces high purity water suitable for unrestricted irrigation purposes. The MBR plant handles an average flow of 2,200 m3/day, with peaks of up to 3,600 m3/day. MBR systems are well suited to both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment. MBR technology combines biological wastewater treatment and membrane filtration into one unit process, producing a consistently high quality effluent in an extremely compact footprint. “The demand for membrane technology in the Middle East region continues to increase steadily” says Jack Noble, Commercial Director EMEA for Koch Membrane Systems. “We have executed numerous MBR projects in the region and are now very happy to have this environmentally friendly technology also operating in Bahrain. The results of the treated effluent from this plant are excellent and meet client expectations.” Submerged PURON membrane filtration modules are at the heart of the MBR system. With improved membrane density and reduced air scour requirements, the single-header modules are energy efficient, provide significantly lower lifecycle costs than alternatives, and are compatible with other commercially-available systems. According to the operators, the PURON MBR system has been performing as designed with no issues. “What I liked about the system is that in the control philosophy, KMS have anticipated all the scenarios and problems an operator faces during the operation of the plant and designed the control system accordingly” said Subash D Nair, Project Manager with Zohal Construction Co. “When we look back after 12 months of operation and maintenance of the Ma’amir Sewage Treatment plant, we are satisfied with the performance of the plant and are pleased with our choice of Koch Membrane Systems.”

Source: Koch Membrane Systems