Dubai Municipality has extended to 22 November the bid submission date for the second phase of the Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant.

Prequalified contractors were previously preparing to to submit technical and financial submissions on 18 October.

The municipality is planning to increase the capacity of the existing Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant (STP) by 375,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d), bringing it to 675,000 cm/d.

Phase 2 will use the existing infrastructure and roads that serve the first phase. It will also use some of the existing facilities, such as the mosque, administration building, labour accommodation and associated facilities. The Jebel Ali STP facility is located on a 670 hectare site to the south of the Jebel Ali-Lahbab Road and to the east of Emirates Road.

The construction contract will include a provisional option for one year operation and maintenance (O&M) of the entire STP, phases 1 and 2.

Dubai Municipality’s decision to move ahead with plans to more than double the capacity of the Jebel Ali sewage site is part of its efforts to expand and upgrade Dubai’s wastewater network.

MEED reported in December last year that the municipality is planning to build a deep-sewer tunnel and network in the Deira area of the emirate, similar to the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) under way in Abu Dhabi.

In August, Dubai Municipality invited companies to bid for two consultancy contracts for the planned deep-tunnel sewer network in the Deira and Bur Dubai areas of the emirate.

The municipality is also planning to tender four tunnel packages to take storm water from the Dubai World Central and Al-Maktoum International airport area in Jebel Ali out to the Gulf.