Dear forumites

I am new here and this is my first post. I recently reserved a property in international city phase III and I am due to pay my deposit very soon, then I came across the issue of the smell wafting across International City from Al Aweer sewage plant. I proceeded to research the problem and it seems (if not dealt with) it is not an International City problem in the long term but a dubai problem, hence I expect it to get attention from the Dubai Authorities. Apparently Al Aweer is the only treatment plant for the whole of Dubai and is currently running at 75% overcapacity so it is no surprise that the treament smell is starting to escape.

I proceeded to query my Agent who sold me my property in Cambridge residence and below is what they had to say.

In summation, i think the smell should be a short term problem,not a long term one
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Thank you for your email.

Dreamhomes Worldwide have sold over a 120 units at International City phase 3. We have only been questioned about this issue once previously by a client sourcing his information from a blog site on the internet.

Our product team have took it upon themselves on a recent Dubai trip to investigate further, with the following:

The plant we believe that you are reffering to is the Al Aweer Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). This is currently the only processing plant for Dubai city. Consequently with the growth and release of completed developments, capacity is stretched. Added to this all labour camps waste is collected by tanker. At the beginning of 2007 there were approx 40 drain points at the plant for the tankers, therefore tankers could carry out 10 to 15 return trips per day. However, mid to end 2007 see tanker drainage facilities being reduce to 5 points, therefore tankers are waiting longer, adding to the congestion and odour issues.



In February 07 the company Metito were awarded a contract to supply a temporary waste water treatment plant to handle current International City requirements specifically with a capacity of 5000 m3 which would be handed to Palm Water LLC. This begins the process of reducing capacity issues at the Al Aweer plant. This temporary plant will have the capacity to be relocated and operated in a different area. Longer term Palm Water LLc will be constructing a Membrane Bio Reactor (process reduces odour issue)giving 110,000m3 additional capacity for the International City project, this plant has a 3 year schedule.



Further to this Al Ahmadiah Aktor have a 3 year project south east of the Jebel Ali area which will add an additional 300,000m3 capacity to supplementing the Al Aweer capacity.. This project will have an initial 150,000m3 capacity within 2 years. This again will be a Membrane Bio Reactor (reduction in odour).



In addition to this we have dicovered, several other plants are being constructed by Palm Water LLC in different areas of Dubai.


Just to add to that, International City Phase 1 is completed and occupied, and much closer to the site you refer to - and to date we have nothing to suggest this is causing any problems. International City Phase 3 is much further from the plant than Phase 1, so again any potential short term problems with the site are negligible.

Please remember that this area is currently all under construction, on a site that originally had few residential properties and where the original infrastructure (such as the sewage plants) will have been designed and installed to cope with the lower number of properties/business already in the area at the time. With a massive influx of funding, residential and commercial properties, and additional infrastructure to support new development - upgrades on all facilities will follow.

The development of Dubai as a whole is a huge project and one that should be considered as long term, with all the relevant and necessary services being implemented as development progresses.

As an investment opportunity International City offers huge potential and we still consider that to be the case. Phase 3 is almost completely sold out which adds credence to the strong interest we received, and the large numbers of units we have ourselves sold.

I hope this helps to reassures you.

Kindest regards