Barka: Nama Water Services pursues to implement the best international practices for wastewater treatment and reuse as part of Oman’s strategic approach to minimize groundwater depletion and contribute towards the environmental sanitation. Such efforts are well demonstrated in expanding green areas and promoting food security by utilizing treated effluent water for crop irrigation.

In pursuit of these goals, Nama Water Services is working on flagship engineering projects where the wastewater treatment process goes through several stages to ensure full filtration of the effluent water and its validity to be reused for multiple purposes.

The treatedeffluent network for Ash-Shakhakhit region in the Wilayat of Barka is among these ambitious projects.

Speaking about the project, Abdulkarim Mohammed Al Hinai, Senior Operation and Maintenance Manager at Nama Water Services highlighted that the treated effluent water supply project for Ash-Shakhakhit region, which is executed in collaboration with the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, is part of Nama’s endeavors to utilize the treated water for irrigation. This would help maintaining groundwater reserves, expanding planting areas, and maximizing productivity; thus, creating a positive impact on the food security.

“At a total cost of RO 2,3 million and an execution timeframe of one full year, the project, which has been assigned to Al-Matar Group Company, entails more than 40 km of pipelines with diameters ranging from 63mm to 500mm to supply treated effluent water to around 60 farms in the initial phase. 54 applications have been made so far to connect farms with treated effluent water”, Al Hinai added.

He elaborated: “We have future plans for expanding treated water network to cover the entire area stretching from Sultan Qaboos Street towards Al Batinah North Governorate and to accommodate the area located along Al Batinah Highway Street on the opposite side. The plan is designed to ensure connecting more than 200 farms, in line with the proje
ct’s objective of increasing the number of farms utilizing the treated water, and also reflecting on the keenness of the Ministry to achieve the objectives of Oman Vision 2040 by increasing the agricultural areas and promoting the food security in the Sultanate of Oman.”

Al Hinai also explained that “The project is supervised by a joint committee comprising Nama Water Services and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources. Nama Water Services oversees the execution of the project through the establishment of the network and connection of the treated effluent water, noting that the utilization of the treated water will be free of charge for the first year and the connection application will be processed for a nominal fee. Moreover, the Ministry is working to promote the awareness among farmers for the importance of utilizing treated water, and soil testing before and after connecting the water besides its role of spreading knowledge of the crops that can be irrigated by treated effluent water
. The focus will be placed on the fruitful crops, except the leaf ones.

Abdulkarim Al Hinai pointed out that “There are future water treatment projects, including an agreement which has been already made with Al-Amerat plant to supply treated water to a neighboring agricultural area. The company has been also considering linking Barka plant with the line heading to Al-Seeb with a possibility of connecting treated effluent water to A’Seeb farms besides connection from Barka plant to the Agriculture Research Center in Barka.

Several farmers benefiting from the project expressed their pleasure at delivering treated water to their farms. They highlighted that the project would contribute to bring some abandoned farms to life again after being unsuitable for farming; due to the soil salinity; resulting from water salinization. It holds promise for increasing crops productivity and therefore promoting the food security in the Sultanate of Oman.

Sultan Rashid Al Kalbani, a farm owner benefitting from this vital p
roject, expressed his appreciation to the government, represented by Nama Water Services, for developing this network to support farmers by supplying treated effluent water to their farms. Al Kalbani explained that “The project will promote cultivation of fruits and vegetables to cover the needs of local markets and contribute to food security.”

“The project assumes particular importance in this area, where most farms have recently been affected by soil salinity, making farms unsuitable for cultivation. This has led farmers to be reluctant, abandoned their farms, and considered converting them to other uses, including residential and industrial purposes; due to the lack of irrigation water and high freshwater prices”, Al Kalbani stated.

He further pointed out that “Implementation of this project will set the farms again to the right track as it will bring them to life and stimulate their production cycle. This has also been manifested by the high turnout of farmers for connecting their farms with treated ef
fluent water. It inspires optimism for extending green areas, maximizing production and diversification of crops. It will also help to raise the farmers’ income and positively reflect on their quality of life. Consumers would also benefit from this project through crops affordability and accessibility.”

Explaining on the high turnout of farmers to utilize the effluent water, Hamoud Saif Al Raqadi, a farm owner, has stressed that the high demand from farmers for the use of treated water is attributed to the shortage and salinity of groundwater. Both Ash-Shakhakhit South and Abu Al Nakheel South regions are renowned for many farms with a variety of crops. However, most farms have been deserted due to salinization. Only a few farmers managed to keep parts of their lands; given the expenses of the water desalination. The newly treated effluent water network will mark a new beginning in restoring the farms, expanding the green areas with different yields, and increasing crop and livestock production.

Al Raqadi f
urther added that “The treated water irrigation project will unquestionably help preserve the region’s groundwater reserves, especially with the fact that the treated water is a viable economic alternative for farmers, which greatly helps improve the environmental conditions and minimizing the groundwater depletion.”

Source: Oman News Agency