Tanqia: Best Sustainable Growth Strategy Middle East 2021

Tanqia serves a vital need in the UAE, where underground aquifers show falling outputs and rising salinity. At the current pace of water use — without factoring in population or industry growth — the UAE is likely to become one of 10 most water-scarce regions in the world, and could deplete its reserves within the next 50 years. Tanqia amplifies the region’s supply and protects the precious resource through wastewater treatment solutions. The company broke ground on its state-of-the-art wastewater collection and treatment system (WWCTS) in 2005, and the system has been operational since 2009. The treatment site, located north of Fujairah City, spans 160,000 square metres. It’s in full swing of an expansion project that will push daily treatment capacity from 16,000 cubic metres to 46,000. The pioneering firm is upgrading its effluent distribution network to provide tertiary-treated effluent water that is suitable for unrestricted irrigation and special industrial usage. Upon completion, the network will provide billions of litres of optimally treated effluent to substitute the use of desalinated and underground water for non-potable use, helping to relieve strained reserves. The plant, which is the first privately held WWCTS in the Middle East, has garnered international recognition for its efficient operations and sustainable impacts. The CFI.co judging panel recognises this innovation by repeat programme winner Tanqia, and presents it with the 2021 award for Best Sustainable Growth Strategy (Middle East).