ACWA Emirates, part of the ACWA Group, a leading international water and wastewater solutions provider, has been selected to design and implement the water recirculation and treatment facilities for the new LEGOLAND® Water Park at Dubai Parks and Resorts, the region’s largest integrated theme park resort destination due to open in October this year.

Led by main contractor ARCO General Contracting, ACWA is responsible for the design, installation and commissioning of the complete water treatment and circulation solution. This will ensure hygienic recreational quality water throughout the water park and provide continuous filtration for approximately 37,000 cubic metres of water per day, processing 115,416 cubic metres per day of water moving through pumps for the water features.

The solution comprises three plant rooms and three propulsion turbine pump stations with more than 35 water pumps, together with an array of strainers and nine regenerative media filters, Ultra-violet treatments, twin chemical dosing systems and 14 heat exchangers to ensure a constant water temperature is maintained. Together, these will ensure consistent high quality water for the many water features and pools including over 15 water slides, a LEGO® wave pool, a Build-A-Raft-River plus a DUPLO® Splash Safari play area designed especially for toddlers.

Water quality and water conservation are both important factors and ACWA has specified mechanical strainers followed by special regenerative media filters which can remove particles down to one micron in size. These far exceed the capability of traditional sand filters which can typically only filter down to 20 micron. At the same time, no backwash is required which offers significant water savings and no downtime. The reduction in backwash waste also means less energy consumption. This, together with a smaller footprint plus user friendly maintenance, makes it an ideal solution for the water park.

From the filtration system water will pass through the ultra-violet treatment system to remove any remaining pathogens and then through the 14 heat exchangers. As a final polishing step the water is dosed with chemicals to correct the pH balance before it circulates back around the park.

Commenting on the project, Gary Jackson, Managing Director of ACWA said:

“We are delighted to have been chosen for this high profile project for the new LEGOLAND Water Park, which joins a number of prestigious Dubai water infrastructure projects that ACWA has been involved with. Delivering a resilient high quality recreational water solution with a significant element of water conservation has been our focus throughout.”

Jackson added: “Our strong local presence and ability to mobilise quickly with this fast track project and integrate fully with the client’s specialised PMO (Project Management Office) team, incorporating PM consultants, civil Consultants, and main contractors under a single roof, have been crucial factors in speeding up the design and approval processes and ultimately ensuring the project proceeds smoothly and on time.”

Work on the 11-month design and construction contract started in August 2015 and is on track for completion.

ACWA’s MEMTREAT® membrane bio-reactor (MBR) used in two UK Center Parcs schemes

ACWA Group is able to provide water and waste water solutions on an international scale with offices in Dubai and the UK to provide global reach. In the UK for example ACWA has also delivered highly sustainable and resilient waste water solutions to Center Parcs, which provides short family breaks at five vacation Villages across the UK.

At Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire, just an hour from London, ACWA developed one of the most advanced, sustainable wastewater treatment and reuse plants to be constructed in the UK, designed to treat up to 34 million litres of wastewater per month from accommodation, restaurants, water attractions and retail outlets.

The heart of the system is ACWA’s MEMTREAT® membrane bio-reactor (MBR), an advanced, compact treatment solution that provides a high quality effluent without requiring any additional primary or secondary clarification or tertiary treatment processes.

Center Parcs Woburn Forest opened to guests in June 2014 and since then ACWA has been involved with a second project involving the complete modernisation and upgrade of the WWT facilities at the company’s first UK site - Center Parcs Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. 

Similar in many ways to the solution at Woburn Forest and again based around ACWA’s MEMTREAT® membrane bio-reactor, the project was designed to upgrade waste water infrastructure that had reached the end of its working life, replacing it with an up-to-date energy efficient solution in line with the company’s continuing environmental focus.

Total process capacities for both sites are very similar - in the region of 1,200 m3 per day - and work on the Sherwood Forest site is scheduled to be completed in October 2016.

Aside from the compact footprint and efficiency of the system compared to conventional processes, the submerged membrane bio-reactor (MBR) is easy to use and simple to maintain. Above all it is helping to deliver a sensitive, low carbon solution, fully in line with Center Parc’s commitment to protecting the natural environment. Having installed in excess of 40 MBR systems, including one of the world’s largest MBR treatment plants at AL ANSAB, in Oman, it’s a tried and tested solution.

For more information visit: www.acwa.co.uk