Gulf Construction Online - Wabag makes inroads into Bahrain, Saudi markets

Drainage & Sewerage

Wabag’s wastewater treatment plant in Madinat Salman.

Wabag makes inroads into Bahrain, Saudi markets

01 March 2025

VA Tech Wabag, a leading pure-play Indian multinational in water technology, is significantly expanding its footprint in the Middle East with a series of major project wins in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. These successes underscore the company’s expertise in delivering advanced water and wastewater solutions and solidify its position as a key player in the region’s sustainable development.

Saudi Arabia projects

Last month, Wabag, in consortium with Mutlaq Al Ghowairi Contracting (MGC), secured a substantial $371 million) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from Al Haer Environmental Services for a 200,000-cu-m sewage treatment plant in Saudi Arabia.

Wabag will lead the EPC consortium as the technology partner, responsible for the design and build, while MGC will focus on laying the transmission pipelines and reservoir construction. The project also encompasses connections to outfall delivery facilities.

This significant independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) project is being developed by a consortium of Saudi groups Miahona Company, Marafiq, and Belgian contractor NV Besix for its off-taker, the Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC). This win follows closely on the heels of another Wabag contract earlier this year for a 20,000-cu-m industrial wastewater treatment plant at the Ras Tanura Refinery Complex, also awarded by Miahona Company.

Bahrain

Further demonstrating its capabilities, Wabag secured a seven-year, $14 million operation and maintenance (O&M) contract in January for the Bapco Refining Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant in Bahrain. This state-of-the-art facility utilises advanced Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology to treat 4,400 gallons per minute of industrial wastewater, meeting stringent environmental standards. This contract builds upon Wabag’s existing presence in Bahrain, where it has been successfully managing the 40-million-litres-per-day (MLD) Madinat Salman Sewage Treatment Plant since 2018.

The Madinat Salman plant exemplifies Wabag’s commitment to sustainable wastewater solutions.

This technologically advanced facility, constructed by Wabag in collaboration with Belhasa Projects, serves approximately 100,000 residents, promotes water sustainability and represents a significant investment in Bahrain’s water infrastructure.

Located on reclaimed land, the project presented unique engineering challenges.

These included the construction of a 21-m-deep terminal lift pumping station and a 4.5-km-long outfall pipeline.

The project stands out as a structural marvel with 25,000 cu m of concreting and reinforcement of over 7,000 tonnes of steel. The 85,000-cu-m-per-day deep terminal lift pumping station sits over 160 piles carefully inserted over an unstable surface which housed an aquifer below it.

The 4.5-km-long outfall pipeline which rounds off the plant process involved both onshore and offshore HDPE piping of 1,200-mm diameter. The offshore piping involved plastic welding of numerous sections in two huge portions of 750 m each. Both these portions were tugged to the ocean and systematically sunk into trenches made using specialised sea water dredging machines.

The plant incorporates tertiary treatment, including disc filters and chlorination, and emphasises resource recovery through sewage digestion and thermal drying for manure production.