Dubai: A new sewage system will be implemented in Discovery Gardens and Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) as Dubai Municipality is planning to redirect waste to the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant.
In the past, Discovery Gardens has witnessed several incidents of sewage water flooding roads and causing traffic jams. Gulf News also reported tenants in Discovery Gardens complaining about the stench as a result of the sewage leak.
Taleb Abdul Kareem Julfar, Director of the Drainage and Irrigation Department at Dubai Municipality, told Gulf News that the municipality was given the responsibility by the government to rectify this issue. At the moment, 60,000 cubic metres of sewage is produced on a daily basis in the area, home to around 26,000 living in 291 buildings in Discovery Gardens and up to 35,000 people in JLT.
Julfar clarified that currently the Jebel Ali plant can take up to 300,000 cubic metres of sewage. The expansion plan will allow the Jebel Ali plant to receive 375,000 cubic metres more sewage. So, once the expansion plans are complete, the Jebel Ali plant will treat up to 675,000 cubic metres of sewage.
“There are two projects we are working towards, the first one is the expansion of the Jebel Ali station to ensure that there is big enough capacity for the sewage that will be redirected,” he said. “This first project will begin at the end of this year, hopefully by November.”
The Jebel Ali plant, which was announced by Dubai Municipality in 2004, keeps in mind Dubai’s population growth in the next 25 years. The Dh1.56 billion plant, located south-east of the Jebel Ali Free Zone, is currently built on 675 million square metres. Julfar told Gulf News that the municipality’s project will allow room to treat more than 375,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day and will increase the plant’s absorptive capacity to reach up to 675,000 cubic metres once expansion plans are complete.
He added that the first phase of the expansion of the plant will take around 14 months to complete while the second phase will take the remaining time until the anticipated deadline.
Julfar explained that, currently, Dubai Municipality is in the research and development stage analysing the different solutions at hand and putting together a strategy for the execution phase.
“The second project or phase is implementing the new sewage system in Discovery Gardens and JLT which will result in the redirection of the sewage water to the Jebel Ali station to avoid future incidents and inconvenience for residents of the area,” he said.
Julfar added once the planning and preparation measures have been complete, the municipality will start presenting the projects to contractors. He clarified that Dubai Municipality is aiming to begin the implementation process of the new sewage system at the beginning of 2016.
“Both projects will take around two and a half years, maximum. The expected and anticipated date of completion for this whole plan is 2018,” said Julfar.
Julfar said the current sewage stations operating in these areas will create a link to the Jebel Ali treatment plant. The link will help redirect the sewage to Jebel Ali and will also cover Furjan.
