Bahrain Water Report Q1 2011

Report Summary

Bahrain receives groundwater by lateral under-flow from the Dammam aquifer, which is part of an extensive regional system. Excessive extraction from this aquifer has led to an increased saline content through water coming from adjacent brackish and saline water sources.

More than half of the country’s water is provided by the Hidd independent water and power plant (IWPP), with just 15% of consumption provided by ground water in 2008. Desalinated water now accounts for more than 80% of Bahrain’s water provision, a proportion that is likely to increase over time. Desalinated water capacity has increased significantly since 2009 with the commissioning of the third phase of the Hidd Power Company desalination plant, which has raised output to 90mn gallons a day (g/d) - an increase of 60mn g/d over its previous capacity.

The Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) is the agency responsible for the production and supply of power and water in Bahrain, working as an independent arm of the state. It has successfully pushed for the development of IWPPs via Hidd’s phase three and the award of the Al Dur IWPP contract.

The kingdom has also drafted a national policy for wastewater, including the reuse of treated sewage effluence. A major boost to wastewater treatment capacity will come with the development of the Muharraq wastewater plant, which will have a capacity of 100,000-150,000m3 per day (m3/d). The EWA has also made improvements in increasing the coverage of sanitation and sewage connection to 88% of the island’s population and is on target to reach full coverage by 2015.

The EWA is looking to award a consultancy contract for a water transmission development scheme which will add 165km of new pipelines, holding an extra 48mn g/d of water produced from Al Dur IWPP. The government is now looking to ramp up the private-led development of Bahrain’s water sector, making the investment climate even more business-friendly.

The Muharraq sewage treatment plant is the first major fruit of the country’s privatisation effort and to ensure its success, the government has guaranteed effluent supplies and will take all the treated water. Korea’s Samsung Engineer was said to be the preferred bidder on the project in Q310.

Bahrain is also persevering with small scale desalination schemes. In September 2010, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry approved a new US$18mn desalination plant for Gemsil Aquatech Bahrain, which will have a 3.5mn litre capacity and will be located at the Arab Ship Repair Yard in Hidd. The planned seawater RO plant will be build by India’s Gemsil Engineering & Management Company.

The kingdom’s progress in bringing new desalination capacity on stream will enable it to keep a handle on water demand over the forecast period. Though groundwater output will be well down on its 2010 peak of 10.5bn gallons over the next four years, we envisage a small increase in production that will keep its contribution to overall water supplies level at just over 10%.

Bahrain’s main existing wastewater treatment plant is at Tubli, servicing the Manama area, which has the capacity to process 160,000m3/d of secondary treated effluence. Given excessive hydraulic overloading, the quality of treated effluent at Tubli has declined markedly. The Ministry of Work planned to expand the plant under a new design and build contract, increasing capacity to 350,000m3/d, with a contract award originally expected by end-2010. However, the ministry has changed tack, and now plans to build a greenfield plant rather than overhaul Tubli.