Bahrain’s Ministry of Housing has awarded a joint venture of Austria’s VA Tech Wabag and UAE-based Belhasa Projects an €85m ($94m) engineering procurement and construction (EPC) wastewater contract.

The joint venture will design and build the 40,000 cubic metres a-day Al-Madina al-Shamaliya Sewage Treatment Plant.

The project is being funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Economic Development. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2017.

A second package involves implementing 15.6 kilometres of sewerage lines. Ten companies bid for the contract.

Al Madina al-Shamaliya is a new town being built on 750 hectares of reclaimed land and will have a population of over 90,000.

The plant will use tertiary treatment (final filtration) and sludge treatment using aerobic digestion and thermal drying. Treated sewage effluent will be used for irrigation in the development.

Bahrain is also planning an 200,000 cubic metres a day expansion to the Tubli sewage treatment plant. Ten groups have prequalified.

The projects are part of Bahrain’s efforts to expand and upgrade its wastewater treatment plants and networks, which are currently operating at over capacity.