VA TECH WABAG has received an order from the Tunisian wastewater authority, ONAS (Office National de l’Assainissement), for the planning and completion of the Hergla and Enfidha wastewater treatment plant. The project will involve a volume of over €11 million and WABAG will serve as the leader of a consortium that includes the local construction company, MTT. The work is to be co-financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The new wastewater treatment plant will boost economic development in Enfidha
Enfidha is located in north-eastern Tunisia, some 80km south of the capital and in the middle of the nation’s most important tourism area between Hammamet and Sousse. From 2010 onwards the region will be increasingly frequented, as next year the new international airport in Enfidha will commence operations with an initial capacity of 5 million passengers per year. In addition to the municipal wastewater from the towns of Enfidha und Hergla, the plant will also deal with the wastewater emanating from the airport.
State-of-the-art technology as protection for the Mediterranean
The concept of the wastewater treatment plant incorporates conventional treatment technologies in the form of mechanical / biological processes. An automated screen system will be used for mechanical pre-treatment while an activated sludge system is to be employed for biological treatment. Downstream sludge treatment will then follow in the form of thickening and dewatering. The plant is designed for a capacity of 10,540m³ of wastewater and a BSB5 freight of 4,200kg/d, which corresponds with a p.e. value of 70,000. The cleaned wastewater will be discharged into the Mediterranean via a 1.5km submarine duct. The two-stage plant technology employed will secure environmentally compatible wastewater disposal and represents a further contribution to water protection and the retention of the marine habitat. The wastewater plant will become operational at the end of 2010.
The eleventh WABAG plant in Tunisia
WABAG has long business traditions in the Maghreb region. In 1997 it founded a subsidiary in Tunisia and since then, with local support, has completed ten plants for industrial and municipal water supply and wastewater disposal. These plants include two large-scale drinking water facilities with capacities of 180,000m³/d and 200,000m³/d.
Dietmar Vergud, the VA TECH WABAG Tunisie CEO, is delighted by this latest contract: “In the course of a tendering process throughout the EU we were able to beat off the international competition with the best technical and business concepts. Our know-how and the experience of WABAG Tunisia’s specialists make our company a reliable partner for the planning, construction and operational management of water and wastewater treatment plants in north Africa.”