Flovac, a leading player in the design, supply and installation of vacuum sewerage infrastructures, said it had completed its key deployment at Hilton Salwa Beach Resort and Villas, which is poised to become one of the largest resorts and residential projects in Qatar. 

 

Headquartered in The Netherlands, Flovac has its engineering, operations and productions facilities   across the globe including at a number of core centres including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Bahrain, Australia and Florida in US.

 

The resort was constructed on 257 acres of land in the Salwa region of Qatar. 

 

The beach resort and villas is a massive project that includes a water park, marina, dive centre, cinemas, pools, a health club, spa and a considerable retail space, said the statement from Flovac. 

 

In addition to the rooms and suites in the main hotel building, the resort will also include two small 'villages' of family villas.

 

Flovac was asked to design and supply a vacuum system that would be able to handle the high flows that will ultimately be handled by the resort. 

 

"The vacuum system needed to facilitate not only the hotel but also residential areas, restaurants and the marina. The client was aware of the good work which Flovac had done at Reef Island in Bahrain  and was particularly impressed with the monitoring system that had been installed," said Willem Gooren, one of the founders of Flovac, who had managed the project. 

 

"The monitoring allows operators to see exactly what was happening anywhere in the network including the operation of the vacuum pump station," stated Gooren, who was based in the Middle East for extensive periods during the project's establishment and finalisation.

 

"In sandy soils, especially areas where there is a high water table, vacuum systems are ideal as all of the pipework is installed at a shallow depth in the ground," he explained. 

 

Gooren pointed out that a stepped profile within the pipeline design allowed for some utilisation of gravity while keeping the pipe shallow. 

 

"Installation of vacuum mains is a lot faster than the installation of gravity sewers as there is less requirement to dewater or pre-load the land. HDPE pipe is used often when installing in hot climates and where soil conditions are unstable," he added.

 

According to Gooren, the use of a Flovac system was vital to ensure that there would be no potential leaks from the system. "As all vacuum pipework is under a negative pressure, sewage cannot leak from the pipe in the event of a break," he said.

 

He pointed out that Salwa vacuum pump station was one of the largest stations in the world. Housed in a dry and air conditioned environment the two large collection tanks are connected to five large Busch Mink MM 1202 vacuum pumps, he noted. 

 

Flovac has used Mink pumps since before 2005 and so has great experience in the correct set up to maximise the ability to handle the large flows required in this project, he added..-TradeArabia News Service