Fady Juez

DUBAI, UAE, 9 December 2019: The growing adoption of District Cooling in the UAE market has paved the way for greater appreciation of, and investment in, treated sewage effluent (TSE) projects and the implementation of other sustainable water treatment operations, said Fady Juez, Managing Director, Metito. “The government and the people are more environmentally aware, and more District Cooling plants are recycling and using their blowdown water,” he said. “Also, cooling towers are increasingly using TSE, and we are seeing more and more business along these lines.”

Providing an example of best practice in this field, Juez said that Emaar has recently won an award for its initiative to reuse TSE to supply makeup water to four District Cooling plants in Downtown Dubai, including the Dubai Mall fountain. Juez said the operation is particularly impressive, when taking into account the fact that Metito had to work on existing plants. “We brought our engineers into the plant, and we created a design that enables us to put this recycling unit inside different places to make it work,” Juez said, adding that integrating engineering excellence is vital to ensure District Cooling can be rolled out in a way that also ensures water sustainability. “We try to bring the cost down, we try to increase efficiency, and we try to reduce the footprint,” he said. “We do this by being close to the client and by engineering the product [that can be integrated] with existing [components]. Working with existing projects is very difficult – you need to have it built, and you need to get engineers to design properly.”

Discussing other projects in the UAE, Juez said that Metito has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ras Al Khaimah Municipality to upgrade its sewage treatment plant and that the company will be responsible for treating and recycling 40,000 cubic metres per day. “Ras Al Khaimah is growing in tourism, growing in industries, and the population is increasing,” he said, commending the Municipality’s initiative to increase its focus on water and energy efficiency and highlighting’ Metito’s commitment to contribute to the Municipality’s overarching sustainability goals.

Outside the UAE, Juez said Metito is currently focusing on emerging markets, such as India, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in Asia, as well as on the north and sub-Saharan Africa, where the company has a wide range of products. He added that Metito recently acquired a company in Turkey, in line with efforts to expand its chemical industry business.