Six seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plants with a total capacity of 3,000 m³/d are to built built in the Southern Province of the Maldive Islands by Biwater International Limited.
Biwater has signed a US$ 42 million water purchase agreement with Southern Utilities Limited to provide potable water to the province, which includes the Seenu and Gnaviyani Atolls that together have a current population of around 26,000. This figure is projected to increase to around 37,000 over the life of the contract.
As well as the desalination plants, Biwater will design and construct the distribution system to enable storage and delivery of potable water to over 4,500 households. After the commissioning period, Biwater will operate and maintain the desalination plants for a period of 20 years.
In addition, the UK company will design and construct four new sewage treatment plants as well as a new sewer collection system to transport wastewater from households to the new treatment plants. Biwater will operate and maintain the sewage treatment system for the same 20-year period.
The agreement was signed on behalf of Southern Utilities by its chairman Ahmed Zareer and on behalf of Biwater by chairman Adrian White.