Gulf Construction Online - ACO enters waste water management sector

Drainage & Sewerage

ACO enters waste water management sector

01 March 2015

Building on its 40 years of experience in the removal and containment of waste water, the ACO Group is now entering the field of waste water management with systems for the treatment and reuse of grey water.

The European company is a global leader in the manufacture and supply corrosion-resistant polymer concrete and stainless steel drainage systems for external and internal applications.

Its products – which are certified to European norms and standards – also include petrol, oil and grease water separation systems, water storage and containment systems, roof and floor drains, access covers and grey water reuse treatment.

Keith Lambourne, export director at ACO UK, points out that increasingly adverse weather conditions are being encountered in the Middle East, which need to be addressed with more complex and sophisticated drainage concepts.

“ACO achieves this with intelligent system solutions that have a dual purpose – protecting people from water and water from people. Therefore, every product within the ACO range safely controls water as it passes along the chain to ensure that it can be ecologically and economically re-used in a viable way,” he says.

He continues: “Our Dubai office – ACO Systems – employs technical sales and design staff with the knowledge to offer advice and prepare designs on the most efficient and cost-effective methods to remove, treat and store surface water. It also has the capability to manufacture some systems locally and deliver to projects in the region.”

Lambourne, a Member of the British Empire (MBE), is the ACO pioneer in the region who continues to consult ACO Systems in Dubai, UAE.

ACO has been actively involved in the Middle East since 1991, where its systems have been installed at some of the most prestigious projects over the past 14 years.

ACO opened an office and warehouse in Dubai in 2006, to establish its products in the region. It created ACO Systems in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, which in 2010 started manufacturing stainless steel products for the Middle East market.

“The aim was to cover the Middle East market, avoid long delivery periods and save logistic costs for our clients,” says Doreen Huge, marketing executive – technical designer at ACO Systems.

“We are currently manufacturing commercial kitchen drainage channels, shower channels, floor drains and external drainage products in stainless steel according to European and ACO standards in our Dubai facility,” she adds.

ACO is also promoting grease and oil separator technology in the region. Special separation products are manufactured in Germany and other European countries.

To ensure that the most appropriate products are installed, ACO advises specifiers, engineers, architects and construction companies to help them decide on the best solutions for their projects. It also liaises with all its Middle East distributors to meet the requirements of projects.

Huge says ACO can produce and deliver to all the GCC countries as well as to the wider Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, South Asia and East Africa.

Some of its systems will be on show at a leading construction event in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, this month.

Lambourne elaborates: “ACO will be participating in The Big 5 Saudi being held at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events this month (March 9 to 12) and looks forward to continue supporting the infrastructure development of Saudi Arabia by assisting with advising on the removal and containment of surface water through the design and supply of the most efficient and economical drainage systems.”

In terms of business, Saudi Arabia has been, and continues to be, a very important market for ACO. It has been present in the Eastern and Western provinces since 2011, and has staff in Riyadh and Jeddah working in conjunction with its local distributor Al Muhaidib Building Materials, and offering technical advice and sales support. Al Muhaidib has offices and warehouses in Riyadh and Jeddah.

“Over the years, ACO has assisted several of the kingdom’s architects and consultants by offering solutions for their infrastructure, residential and industrial projects in the region whilst also being privileged to supply systems and cooperate with some of the main contractors that are building them, including Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Oger, El Seif and many others.”

ACO has installed systems at airports, sporting venues, industrial complexes, shopping malls, hospitals and universities and has recently been successful in supplying to the King Abdullah Grand Mosque expansion project in Makkah, where it provided various building drainage systems; King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah; and King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh.

Other projects include King Faisal University, Al Hasa, where ACO supplied various internal and external drainage systems; King Abdul Aziz Centre for World Culture in Al Khobar and Princess Nora University, Riyadh, where it supplied external drainage systems; and King Saud University in Riyadh, where its Sport system was supplied.

Lambourne says ACO Systems assisted in the design of the drainage systems for these projects with many of the products having been manufactured and supplied from the Dubai factory.

In the UAE, ACO has supplied to mega projects such as Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and other main shopping centres, Dubai Maritime City, Dubai Airport, all in Dubai; and Abu Dhabi Airport, Abu Dhabi Financial Centre, Khalifa Port, Pepsi factory and others in Abu Dhabi.

Its UAE project portfolio also includes various hotel and tower projects like Conrad Hotel, Four Seasons Jumeirah, Rosewood Hotel and Emirates Palace Hotel (Abu Dhabi). Infrastructure projects that ACO has supplied to are at Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, Palm Jumeirah and Dubai Motor City, where different products like bridge drains, road and highway line drainage solutions, manhole covers and multipart covers have been employed.

Elsewhere in the region, ACO has supplied to Qatar for the Muntazah Highway and Dukhan Highway projects; Cairo airport, Egypt; the American College in Beirut, Lebanon; Grand Mosque and the Opera House in Oman; a bridge in Bahrain, and many more.