Utico has unveiled a 55km pipeline to provide uninterrupted water supply to the Al Ghail district of Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE. Building the pipeline, at a total cost of AED 75mn ($20.4mn), was a challenging engineering feat due to the difficult terrain and the huge cost and challenge for pumping water from the sea to the city at an elevation of 290 metres (965 feet).

The project has started to provide much-needed water to an estimated 50,000 residents, farmlands and enterprises of the Al Ghail district and will support growth in the region, Utico said in a statement.

Richard Menezes, Utico’s Managing Director, said that the project has a peak capacity of around 7 million gallons of desalinated water per day (26,500 m3/d) with the possibility to add another 10 MGD. “The commissioning of the project marks another milestone in the development of Ras Al Khaimah and will have a significant social and economic impact on the region. The construction of the water infrastructure for Al Ghail was not an easy task but we achieved this without a single lost time incident,” he added.

The water supply line project also includes distribution network of another 60 km. The entire project includes storage tanks, pumping stations and bowser points and related works.

Al Ghail city has about 50,000 inhabitants, farmlands and Al Ghail Industrial City, one of the fastest growing industrial parks in the country and is owned by the Ras Al Khaimah Industrial Authority (RAKIA).The pipeline included crossing 12 hillsides and sand dunes as well as co-ordination and permits from the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (FEWA), TRANSCO, Ministry of Defense, Etisalat, RAK Gas, among others, who co-operated to enable the successful completion of this transmission line.

Press References

Utilities Me   |   Technical Review Middle East   |   Khaleej Times