FCC Aqualia and Orascom have won a $320 million contract to design, build and operate a wastewater reuse plant in Cairo, Egypt.

Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant will process 1.6 million m3/d of wastewater through primary and secondary treatment to produce potable water. Once complete, it will serve six million people.

The scope of work includes expanding the existing primary treatment plant from 1.2 to 1.6 million m3/d, and adding biological treatment. Construction is expected to take 37 months.

The project was originally conceived as a 20-year concession, but has been reduced to three years owing to Egypt’s economic situation.

FCC Construcción is leading the delivery of the project, and African Development Bank is financing.

It is the largest contract of its type that FCC Aqualia has signed outside of Spain.

In 2016, FCC Aqualia won a contract to build a 150,000 m3/d desalination plant at El Alamein in Egypt.