Biwater companies in the UK, South Africa and Malaysia combined their expertise in a US$29 million project to alleviate seasonal water shortages in the Seychelles. The contract was for the design, construction, commissioning and management of operations of four seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants on the main islands of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue with a capacity of 8.4 Mld, and with provision for future expansion to 12.75 Mld.

Biwater Pty was the main contractor and project manager and responsible for mechanical engineering and Biwater Treatment of the UK designed the reverse osmosis system and completed the process and electrical design. Finance was arranged on a 50/50 basis between South Africa and Malaysia, being sourced from Nedbank South Africa, covered by ECIC, and Bumaputra Commerce Bank Malaysia, covered by MECIB. This resulted in the procurement being divided equally between Biwater Pty and Biwater Malaysia.

Water supply is the principal environmental concern in the Seychelles. The Seychelles has plentiful rainfall from November to April but inadequate catchment areas which results in dangerously low reservoirs by the end of the dry season. The problem has intensified because of the rapid growth of the tourist industry, which now plays an important part of the economy of the Seychelles. The contract period of just 14 months was set in order that the desalination plants were in operation during the last months of the dry season. Reverse osmosis was selected as the most practical desalination method because power intensive thermal systems would make excessive demands on the islands power generation resources. Desalination was seen as a more cost effective solution compared to building a dam and new reservoir.

Services Included:

• Technology transfer in all disciplines to PUC.
• Sampling and analysing the plant's influent and effluent.
• Monitoring meter flows.
• Preventative, planned or emergency maintenance of all the fixed and moveable plant machinery. This includes maintenance of equipment and vehicles, and recording all service fault details.
• Reduction in operating costs, power, chemicals, spares.
• Staff training.
• Development and upkeep of operational and maintenance procedures and maintenance of the management system.
• Development and upkeep of good working practices.
• On-site laboratory analysis.