After years of discussion, Qatar has finally commissioned a firm to rehabilitate a contaminated lagoon in Al Rayyan, west of Doha.

French-based Egis has been awarded a contract by Qatar’s public works authority to eradicate the 4 square km Al Karaana lagoon, the company announced this week.

In a statement, Egis said:

“Almost 60,000 cubic metres of untreated wastewater per day is discharged onto this site by tanker, most notably causing the contamination of the water table by infiltration, producing foul odours and creating safety risks connected with the transport of sewage.”

As part of its contract, the firm will remove the waste and devise a strategy to treat the contaminated area, over a period of 23 months.

The government has been keen to maintain the lagoon area since at least 2009, when Ashghal began floating tenders to repair and halt sewage seepage from the body of water.

Separately, Ashghal appears to be constructing a plant in Al Karaana to treat sewage delivered by tanker trucks for reuse in farmland irrigation, to produce crops for animals.

According to its website, that multi-million riyal project was supposed to begin in 2011 and be completed by 2020.

Thoughts?