World's largest vacuum sewage plant at work in Palm Jumeirah

Dubai: The world's largest vacuum sewage plant is operating at Nakheel's Palm Jumeirah, officials revealed the project details yesterday.

The system, operational since the beginning of last year, has the capacity to handle 16,000 cubic metres of waste water everyday, via four large vessels in the station.

Currently serving 2,000 villas, with 40 kilometres of pipeline, the system will be connected to over 4,000 villas, officials said.

Developed by Corodex Electromachanic, the system requires less construction and is completely odourless.

It was designed to ensure there would be no emission of treated effluent into the sea. The treated water is used to irrigate landscaping on the Palm Jumeirah instead.

An alternative to other systems that run on the basis of gravity, the vacuum sewerage system instantly moves the waste from houses to the vacuum station at high velocity, keeping the pipelines devoid of stagnant waste.

"Nakheel's mission was to utilise technology to minimise waste water flow and environmental impact and using vacuum sewerage technology you can actually do that," said Mohannad Awad, business development manager of Corodex Electromachanic, a member of the Concorde-Corodex Group, suppliers of water supply engineering and waste water treatment systems.

Eliminating the need for manholes, the system will use high-density polyethylene pipes, which will stop exfiltration or infiltration of sewage or seawater, rather than the traditional concrete pipes that can result in leakage.

However, a limitation on the vacuum system is the height of a building.