Sulaiman Al Qasmi

What were the most recent developments at Haya Water in the past year?

2020 was both a challenging and an interesting year for us. In spite of all the problems, we managed to commission two major projects in Muscat: the New Darsait sewage treatment plant worth OMR32 million and the Al Amerat Sewage treatment plant worth OMR25 million. They are state-of-the-art sewage plants that do not look like sewage treatment plants at all; the technology is top notch in terms of odor and appearance. Both treatment plants employ the membrane biological reactor (MBR) technology, which is considered the best applied systems in the world in wastewater treatment and results in treated effluent of high quality and without any pollutants. The plants also incorporate a chemical odor treatment system that minimizes the potential impact of odors on the environment. The New Darsait sewage treatment plant will serve the areas of Hamriyah, Ruwi, Bait Al Falaj, Darsait, Coastal Darsait, Al Aynt, Muttrah, and Muscat and will cater to all issues of sewage overflows and non-connectivity issues to properties of the area. This was a great achievement in 2020. We also launched the first PPP project in 2020 and, hopefully, by the end of 2021 we will award this project.

What will your role be as the main utility company?

To date, Haya Water was looking after wastewater system in Muscat and regional governorates (except Dhofar), and PAW Diam was looking after potable water. The cycle was not closed, because our plants were not talking to each other, so the merger was a major step that we have been waiting for a long time. Now, we will have one entity called Haya Water that will look after both water and wastewater all across Oman except in Dhofar. There is also a step where there will be a transfer of assets in terms of ownership from the government to this entity. In terms of billing, we had challenges, but this will help us be much more efficient. This will attract more investors in both water and wastewater.

How are you working toward international expansion?

We like to work with many international organizations in terms of knowledge transfer and importing technologies into the country that could suit our country and provide the best, efficient technology in desalination or wastewater treatment. Currently, we work with many organizations and import technologies from China, Japan, Germany, and more to build our own asset; however, we are also looking to work with foreign investors when it comes to constructing sewage treatment plants. They will execute it via the PPP model, and after some 25 years they will transfer it to us.

What major trends in Oman are you incorporating in your strategy?

One of the major trends that we are pushing for is the water reuse programs. We produce around 180,000cbm of treated water daily. We have to treat the water, bring it back, and send it to our environment, and this water can have a great impact on the economy if we use it for food security, manufacturing, and so on. We have managed to utilize 50-60% of this water though unfortunately, for the other 40% there are no projects. In order to utilize this water, we initialed the Barka project that supplies the water to around 135 farms outside of Muscat. We initiated a project in March to work with investors based on share revenues. They will come and build the network for these farms from our main trunk line and main pipe and do the distribution system where they can sell the water, and we share the revenues. We are in process to sign an MoU with the Omani Food Holding Company, which will develop the farms. Another of our initiatives is using treated water to farm trees that can generate castor oil and or bio diesel. In this regard, we signed an agreement with OQ where it will take the water and plant many trees.