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Introduction

Wastewater treatment plants are facilities made store and process waste from homestead industries as well as companies which substances that appear harmful to any part of the environment, as well as human life. The main importance of wastewater treatment is to allow human and industrial discharge to be disposed of without distorting human life and harming the environment (MEED, 2008). The following is a five day diary towards water treatment. Day 1

To meet the growing sewerage infrastructure demands, Abu Dhabi sewerage Service Company has adapted a large scale development plan to curb the problem of sewage disposal. The project was officially initiated in 2008 and is planned to end in 2015, but two major planets have already been completed. The entire project is carried out with an investment of US$1.6 billion provided by Al Etihad Biwater Water Company. The design is important for Abu Dhabi as it part of the development plan which is meant to accommodate the increasing release of waste product from the city. The objective of the plan of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program is to help incorporate sustainable solutions, avoid interruption of Abu Dhabi settlers and their businesses, as well as be consistency in planning so as to achieve their 2030 goal.Day 2

It is noted that the Emirate’s population growth has placed a very heavy load on the capital’s sole sewage treatment plant in Mafraq. It received more than 450,000 cubic meters of wastewater daily, which is almost twice its designed capacity.(MEED, 2008) This prompted the Abu Dhabi government to come up with the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program, which entails the construction of four sewerage plants, Al Wathba and Allahamah being the first ones to be built. These two facilities, Al Wathba and Allah amah, are designed to treat 300,000 m3/d and 130,000 m3/d of sewage to a rigorously high standard respectively.

Day 3

1.6 meter diameter pipeline conveys the al wathba 2 sewerage treatment plant. The entire length of the pipeline was running from Mafraq sewer treatment plant to the Al Wathba two sewer treatment plants at a depth of 18 meters below ground level. Also, it involves the construction of 41 meters of deep sewer tunnel, 43 km of supply tunnels, and one underground pumping station at Al Wathba with a pumping capacity of 30m/s compared to the many pumping station in the previous plants system. (Lawrence, 2011)

Construction works involve monitored excavation done by machines that create tunnels and joints the without digging. The built tunnel is well protected with concrete to avoid breakage or damage. To minimize construction impacts and disruption of the natural environment at the time of construction, both the link sewers and the tunnel are being built using the general Trenchless technology where no digging is involved. The deep tunnel sewer has been made such that it can sustain itself, thus requiring very minimal operation and maintenance. Also to permit the future inspection of all the deep tunnel sewer, access is provided through the use of remotely operated vehicles along the routes of the deep tunnel sewer. The additional corrosion protection that has been added increases the life span of the tunnel to 80 years.Day 4

At the head works, a structure treatment cycle was installed, which entails preliminary, primary and secondary treatment for biological nutrient removal followed by filtration and disinfection. Firstly, the sewage flows through fine screens, which remove particles with a size larger than 6mm. From there the sewage is delivered in large tanks for grease and grit removal, where sand, stones as well as broken glass settle down in the interior of the tanks. Bottom residue is collected as the settled matter and delivers it into containers for disposal while suspended residue as oil and grease from the sewage is drained off. This is the preliminary treatment stage. (Lawrence, 2011)

Sewage from the preliminary stage is then delivered to three primary settlers which remove most of the suspended solids using Veolia Water’s Multi-Flo treatment system. From the primary treatment, it is channeled to secondary treatment where majority of BOD-5 and Ammonia from the wastewater are removed. This process is done through Activated Sludge Process and Clarification. The Activated Sludge process is a duly biological process that uses microorganisms to convert organic and certain in- organic matter from wastewater into cell mass. Its main aim is to remove dissolved organic matter and nitrogen from the sewage. Clarification helps separate the solids from the liquid phase of the mixed liquor and removes organic sludge from the floor.

Tertiary treatment of water is the last treatment process that exists within the sewage treatment plant. It makes sure that wastewater is always treated so that it duly complies with the regulatory standards for use of treatment effluents for irrigation purposes. It involves two processes, filtration and disinfection. Dual Media Filter is put into use for the filtration process. The filtered and treated effluent is disinfected through injecting Sodium Hypochlorite. Once the wastewater has passed through all treatment stages, it looks into the regulatory standards and it can be considered as recycled. The recycled water is pumped to a reservoir with a capacity of about 50,000 cubic meters, where is is distributed to the consumers used as water for primary irrigation purposes in Abu Dhabi.(Lawrence, 2011).Day 5

The solid end product is poured into 14 drying beds whereby sun will be used to evaporate more than 80% of its moisture. Approximately the plants produce 135 tonnes of sludge per day, of which most of it is used as compost under the supervision Abu Dhabi sewage service. The Special Purpose Company which is in partnership with the main construction company is fully committed to protecting the environment at all times. In the long run, environmental management system gets implemented to monitor any environmental impacts I the entire Lifecycle of the project. Strongly emphasize has been laid on minimizing the carbon footprint and optimizing the electricity consumption on the sewage treatment plants.

In conclusion, the Abu Dhabi sewage services company plans to educate future generations about the importance of such critical developments. Plans are afoot to create a museum charting both its construction and ongoing operations. Further benefits will be the creation of 80 full time jobs to run it. While an environmental sensitive reclaimed land project, rich in indigenous flora and fauna, it is designed to transform the land scale around the facility. The four new sewage treatment plants process more than 800,000 cubic meters of waste daily.Reflection

Water shortages have been described in terms of inadequacy, but there is an assertion by researchers that people have no safe water for drinking. Water security has been an important issue in Asia for a long time. Maybe there has been no other such important issue apart from oxygen to this area of the world. As the population growth of the area continues to rise, the demand for water is rapidly increasing without an increased supply of the commodity. Many countries in Asia have begun experiencing issues ranging from moderate to severe water shortages. This has been brought about by effects connected to agricultural growth, urbanization and industrialization.

Researchers opine that the water security is becoming affected continually by weather patterns that are erratic and other weather phenomena. Some countries in the region have experienced droughts that have been severe in the sense that they have caused food insecurity and threatened the long term shortage of food.

There have been growing concerns in the area about the increased competition over shared water supplies and resources. For example, Singapore is dependent on cooperation. In South Asia, there have been deep rooted conflicts over fresh water and has strained relationships between Bangladesh and India and Pakistan and India. If the situation remains in the way of diminishing and degraded freshwater resources, it has a high possibility of resulting to internal instability among nations and give rise to interstate conflicts.

The supply of fresh water across the world is not infinite. A large amount of about 97.5% is salty and is contained in seas and oceans. 2.5% of the remaining water is mostly trapped in glaciers and ice caps. This leaves only one percent of fresh water at the disposal of the world. For example, in Asia, there have been a drop in water supply to people and the annual water supply sometimes is as low as 1,700 cubic meters per person. Thus, it is evident that most parts of Asia are currently facing chronic water shortages.

References

Water Problems of Central India. Retrieved from: HYPERLINK “http://library.fes.de/pdf

files/bueros/zentralasien/50116.pdf” http://library.fes.de/pdf

files/bueros/zentralasien/50116.pdf on May 7. 2013.

Asia’s water crisis needs urgent fixing. Retrieved From:

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/archive/asias-water-crisis-needs-urgent-fixing/ on May 7, 2013.

Water resources in Asia: Changes and Challenges. Retrieved

from: http://nationalgeographic.com/archive/…/14/…/waterresources.html‎ on May 7, 2013.

Asia facing water crisis. Retrieved from: www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-14 on May 7, 2013.

Al Wathba Veolia Besix Waste Water-PJSC. 2010. Al Wathba 2 And Allahamah: Water

Treatment Plants. Abu Dhabi