UK firms win key Dhaka water supply deal
23 Jul 2018
Suez and Veolia have won a contract valued at more than £240 million to build and operate a drinking water production plant in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The joint venture between the two firms, won the international tender offered by the Dhaka Sewage and Water Authority (WASA) for the site in the city’s Gandharbpur district.
It will serve 40% of the capital’s population of more than 11 million people. With more than 18 million in the Greater Dhaka area overall, Dhaka is the world’s fourth largest city.
Despite the fact that Bangladesh’s 160-plus million population live in an area mostly covered by the world’s largest delta with 700 rivers, the capital faces a rapidly diminishing supply of groundwater, the main drinking source for its people.
With a capacity of 500,000 m3/day, the plant will treat water from the Meghna river to provide drinking water to around 4.3 million Dhaka residents
Demand for drinking water is expected to double by 2030, whilst the region’s groundwater levels are falling by 2 to 3 metres each year. The Bangladeshi government wants to source 80% ofthe water needed by Dhaka’s inhabitants from surface water (compared to 20% currently).
?The four-year design and construction project is followed by a three-year operation and maintenance deal. It will involve a raw water intake, 21 km of pipeline and a treatment plant in the Gandharbpurarea.
With a capacity of 500,000 m3/day, the plant will treat water from the Meghna river to provide drinking water to around 4.3 million Dhaka residents.
