Palm Pilot

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Palm Water is mixing green technologies and international plans in a bid to corner a slice of the all-important regional water market.

Since rising out of the waters off Dubai in the early years of this decade, the Palm Jumeirah has become synonymous with the emirate's dreams of economic preeminence. While Nakheel's landmark development has only been in existence for a brief period, its presence in Dubai's consciousness already appears pronounced.

In many ways, however, the existing Palm is the forerunner of Nakheel's, and the Government of Dubai's, long-running plan for the future of the emirate's coastline. With two other Palms nearing the end of construction and reclamation work for The World archipelago having been completed, plans are being put together to offer water provision to these sites.

Palm Water, a sub-division of Palm Utilities, was set up two years ago specifically to fulfil that demanding role. In terms of desalinated water, the firm's specific remit, as per its agreement with Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA) and the government, is limited to the provision of potable water to the islands of Dubai.

Of course, the financial crisis has not been kind to the offshore Nakheel developments, with work on the Waterfront project currently on hold. But that hasn't stopped Palm Water working with Nakheel to produce a plan that will offer utilities provision to Dubai's island projects when they are finally up and running.

"The development of the utility concept for Dubai's other islands is still under design," says Dr Imad Haffar, managing director of Palm Water. "There are various schools of thought as to how this should progress, but it's still being considered under the Nakheel masterplan, and the work hasn't been subcontracted out yet."

Haffar says that there are two current methods being considered; either a standalone facility on the islands - much in the same vein as Palm Water's reverse osmosis (RO) plant on the Crescent of the Palm Jumeirah - or a facility on the mainland that will be connected to the archipelago via a distribution network. "What I can say is that there is a huge focus being placed on a solution that is both energy-efficient and environmentally conscious," Haffar adds.

But for the time being, Palm Water's focus remains very much on its existing workload. From the desalination perspective, the firm's RO plant near the Atlantis hotel at the top of the Crescent will soon be joined by a twin. "The second plant is around a kilometre away from this one and is exactly identical - it should be ready in the next five to six months," Haffar observes.

The new plant will double Palm Water's daily and storage capacities. Each facility has a daily capacity of 32,000 cubic metres of water, with a strategic reserve of another 32,000 cubic metres. "Our current facility is already providing water for all the apartments on the Crescent, as well as to some parts of the Trunk and Fronds, and I'm proud to say it also incorporates state-of-the-art technology filtration and energy-capturing systems," explains Haffar.

Certainly, green thinking - or ‘blue technology', as it is known in the industry - seems to play a large part in the company's thinking. Haffar is keen to affirm that Palm Water sources environmentally friendly technologies in all its contracts. "For this desalination plant, for example, we have paid a much higher sum in order to utilise filtration systems that use a minimal amount of chemicals," he outlines. "We use more flushing, together with very effective energy recovery system that works on the pressure differential between various products.

This system is one of Palm Water's most impressive assets, and one of which Haffar is understandably proud. "It's the only one of its kind in the GCC and allows us to recapture energy, which is then put back into the system. It accounts for as much as 12% of the energy within the plant."

Desalination generally has recently been a hot topic within the UAE press, with experts clubbing together to criticise the sector as being a major contributor to increasing salinity levels in the Arabian Gulf. The process was cited, alongside the presence of untreated sewage in rivers such as the Shatt Al Arab and the washing of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, as being a threat to existing levels of salt. However, Haffar is quick to dismiss this notion.

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