Study Trip to Saidabad Water Treatment Plant, DWASA, on April 23, 2026

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As part of the coursework of CEE 370 (Water Supply and Treatment), 22 students of department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DCEE) visited the Saidabad Water Treatment Plant under Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) on 23 April 2026, led by Course Instructor Dr. Nehreen Majed (Professor, DCEE). The study trip consisted of demonstrations of the plant establishment and details in slides by DWASA officials followed by visit, demonstration and explanation of the treatment unit and plant operations by Plant engineers and managers. The capacity of the water treatment plant is 450 million liters per day and provides almost half of the city demand. The plant receives surface water as source water which receives some biological and physical pre-treatment followed by chemical treatment. The source water has automatic characterization steps evaluating real time temperature, electrical conductivity, turbidity etc. values for assessing the dosing requirements. There are some sludge management, stabilization and field re-utilization steps at the end as well. Maintenance steps of filters such as backwashing were also demonstrated to the students. After obtaining the demonstration of the plant units, the students also visited the digital control room where students got to observe the real time monitoring of each of the treatment operations and status of the whole system showing the delivery and discharge points along with the entire network operation.  At the very end, students were provided with a brief visit to the laboratory facilities which analyze the inorganic, organic and biological contaminants present in the water. It is worth mentioning that during the slide demonstration at DWASA conference room, students of DCEE also presented a brief overview of NSU and CEED to familiarize DWASA officials with the department and its landscape.  Overall, the trip was very enlightening to the students to get practical exposure of the theoretical classroom demonstration of the water treatment principles and theories. Especially, it was very important for the students to understand that theoretical concepts are many times adjusted into altered or improvised designs to meet with the existing demand or requirements not compromising the overall target.