During a weeklong study and business tour to Japan for water and wastewater treatment systems in October, organized by Japan Cooperation Center for the Middle East (JCCME), the mission members, headed by Mohammad Khojah, Taif area sector manager, National Water Company, visited Kobe City’s Higashi-Nada WWTP and Tobu Sludge Center and attended technical lectures on the facilities.

The mission members were inspired to know that Japanese engineers regard sewage as treasure of energy, in terms of automobile fuel, methane gas supply to the local municipality, and phosphorus fertilizers, etc.

They learned advanced technology of wastewater treatment systems and management know-how, including O&M, which precisely focused on effective use of water recycling and sludge, looking for the technology transfer in the future.

The topics they had learned in the lectures were mainly major roles of sewerage like protecting the city from flooding, protecting the natural environment, improving the living environment and enhancing effective use of resources; development of low-carbon and recycle-based city; utilization of sewege resources like urbanization of Kobe Biogas and recovery of phosphorus, high-pressure water absorption method, and natural gas vehicles by Kobe Biogas, the first trial in Japan; and resource circulation systems of the sewerage.

Aside from the technical lectures on the second and fifth days, the mission members had practical B2B meetings with Japanese companies in Osaka and Yokohama. They were; Torishima Pump, TOYOBO, Kubota, Nihon Genryo, TORAY, Yokohama Water, Yokogawa Electric, Nitto Denko, Mitsubishi Rayon, Marubeni, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

On the third day, the mission members attended the exhibition of Waterworks 2014 in Nagoya, organized by the Federation of Japan Water Industries, Inc., which had the presence of 102 Japanese companies and organizations.

On the fourth day, they visited the manufacturers of water meter and ceramic membrane in Nagoya.