New Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants for Tunisia

In the first quarter of 2014, VA TECH WABAG (Austria) was able to achieve two order successes in Tunisia. A new mechanical/biological wastewater treatment plant, that will also incorporate anaerobic sludge treatment and energy generation using biogas, is to be built for the town of Gafsa in the south-east of the country. Furthermore, a new drinking water treatment plant is to be completed in the popular tourist centre of Bizerte. The two orders will have a combined order volume of around EUR 9 million. 

Gafsa wastewater treatment plant

In January 2014, the state-owned ONAS organisation awarded a WABAG consortium an order for the Gafsa wastewater treatment plant, which will have a capacity of some 14,000 m3/day. This contract includes the design and construction of a new plant with conventional mechanical/biological treatment, a wastewater pumping station and waste air cleaning. In addition, the sludge produced during the treatment process is to be stabilised anaerobically in two digesters and the biogas emanating from the fermentation process converted into electricity in two combined heat and power plants.  As a result, the wastewater treatment plant will be able to cover part of its power needs internally by means of “green energy”. This will not only cut costs and environmental impact, but will also reduce CO2 emissions.      

WABAG is to serve as an EPC contractor and will be responsible for the design and engineering, equipment supply, construction and start-up, as well as the operational management for a period of six months. The entire investment volume will amount to EUR 14 million of which some EUR 6 million will relate to WABAG. Plant commissioning is scheduled for summer 2016.

Bizerte drinking water treatment plant

WABAG is to build a new drinking water treatment plant for the beautiful harbour town of Bizerte, which lies on the shores of the Mediterranean in the extreme north of Tunisia. The contracts were signed in Tunis at the end of February 2014 with the customer, Commissariat Régional au Développement Agricole de Bizerte (CRDA), and involve an order volume of around EUR 3 million.   

The plant is designed for the treatment of 12,100 m3 of water per day, which will be obtained from the nearby Zyatine reservoir and cleaned using a conventional surface water treatment system. The process phases will consist of flocculation, lamella clarifiers, filtration and disinfection. The drinking water plant will become operational in the summer of 2015.