Under the 18-month turnkey contract awarded earlier this year, Degremont will build a plant with a capacity of 38,000 cubic metres a day. The plant will treat water from the Bredeah spring to provide drinking water to Oran, some 25 kilometres to the north. A Degremont official said he hoped that the construction contract might lead to a 10-year operation and management contract.

Degremont is closely following several of the numerous water transfer and sewerage projects in Algeria. The company official says Degremont hopes to participate in a water transfer package for the Beni Haroun project, which will provide drinking water to six provinces in the northeast of the country. Three groups have submitted bids for the pumping station, which will have a capacity of 23 cubic metres a second. The contract is expected to be awarded in early November (MEED 6:7:01).

Later packages include a 12-kilometre pipeline and water transfer system to supply water to the pumping station and further transfer systems between the station and Ouad Athmania, and on to Batna.

Other water projects include the Taksebt transfer, which will deliver water to Algiers through the Tizi Ouzou corridor.