Media Release

Penetron Helps Clean Up Wastewater Treatment in Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Commissioned in February 2021, the new wastewater treatment plant in Atyrau, Kazakhstan features more efficient, biologically-enhanced treatment processes – and Penetron concrete waterproofing. The Penetron System ensures durable concrete structures – and helps avoid downstream maintenance costs.

Also known as “the oil capital of Kazakhstan,” Atyrau is a prosperous city of over 155,000 inhabitants on the very western edge of the country. Located at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, Atyrau straddles the geographic border between the continents of Europe and Asia.

The city’s new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), on the bank of the Ural River, was built to provide treatment capacity for the eastern part of Atyrau, including the Almagul district. A key feature of the city’s new WWTP is the membrane bioreactor (MBR), which combines a membrane filtering process (micro-filtration or ultrafiltration) with a biological wastewater treatment process, or an activated sludge process. MBR processes result in cleaner effluent that can be discharged into surface or brackish waterways or can be reclaimed for urban irrigation.
 

Improved Treatment Technology

“The MBR system has a smaller footprint and is a welcome improvement on the previous wastewater treatment in Atyrau,” adds Armen Gegamyan, the local Penetron Kazakhstan representative. “This results in a more environmentally friendly operation.”

Reinforced concrete structures in wastewater treatment plants are constantly exposed to aggressive substances commonly found in effluent. This can lead to the rapid destruction of reinforced concrete structures. To protect the concrete, Pavlodar River Port, the project’s general contractor, specified PENETRON ADMIX-treated concrete for the new concrete WWTP structures. Other existing parts of the Atyrau plant – the receiving chamber, the secondary sediment chambers, and the pumping station – were waterproofed with PENETRON, a topically applied crystalline material.
 

Keeping Waterborne Chemicals Out

Like PENETRON ADMIX, PENETRON penetrates deeply into the concrete structure, filling micro-cracks, pores and capillaries with an insoluble crystalline formation. This prevents water and water-borne chemicals from entering the concrete structures, even under high hydrostatic pressure. In addition, any cracks that may develop during the lifetime of the concrete automatically self-heal, resulting in waterproof and durable concrete for the lifespan of the concrete structures of the Atyrau WWTP.

“With increased treatment capacity that delivers a cleaner effluent, the Atyrau plant will require reduced concrete-related maintenance – extending the lifetime of the WWTP and saving the city repair costs,” adds Armen Gegamyan.

The new wastewater treatment plant in Atryau, Kazakhstan features micro-filtration and an activated sludge process for a cleaner effluent that can be reused for irrigation.

Cleaner result: The new wastewater treatment plant in Atryau, Kazakhstan features micro-filtration and an activated sludge process for a cleaner effluent that can be reused for irrigation.


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