Asia Water Development Engineering Company

What Asia Water Development Engineering Company does

Asia Water Development Engineering Company (شرکت مهندسی توسعه آب آسیا) is an Iranian public joint-stock company, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Tehran, that designs, builds, and operates seawater desalination infrastructure under long-term Build-Own-Operate (BOO) concessions. Its flagship asset is the Bandar Abbas Desalination Complex on the Persian Gulf coast in Hormozgan Province, currently the largest seawater desalination facility in Iran, with two operational 200,000 m³/day SWRO units (a third in design) supported by a 4.5 million m³/day intake structure, DAF and DMF pre-treatment, a 19,971-membrane reverse osmosis hall, brine discharge infrastructure, and onshore transfer pipelines.

The core technology stack is industrial process engineering: Seawater Reverse Osmosis using 9 high-pressure pumps at 60 bar driving 9 RO trains of 317 pressure vessels each, pre-treated by Dissolved Air Flotation (10 cells) and Dual Media Filtration (22 cells), with brine discharged via a semi-buried weir box at 3.2 million m³/day capacity. Complementary engineering IP includes the Core Tube Grout Injection method for offshore HDPE pipeline weight ballasting and deep-foundation storage tanks supported by approximately 440 piles per tank. The company is expanding into smaller distributed desalination via subsidiary Pars Avin Tarava, which develops RO plus thermal (MED/MSF) plants up to 10,000 m³/day.

Asia Water generates revenue primarily through long-term water supply agreements with three named mining customers — Sar-Cheshmeh Copper, Gol Gohar, and Chadormalu — and with the provincial governments of Hormozgan, Kerman, and Yazd for drinking water. Distribution is direct B2B enterprise sales plus government procurement. The company is 99.99%-owned by Persian Gulf Water Supply and Transfer Company, which operates the parallel 900 km pipeline delivering water from Hormozgan to the central Iranian plateau, and the entity is financed by a nine-bank consortium led by Bank Melli Iran. The company was admitted to Iran Farabourse (OTC market) in 2025 as the first desalination-sector listing on an Iranian capital market.

Name

Asia Water Development Engineering Company

Legal name

Asia Water Development Engineering Company (Public Joint Stock)

Website

https://asiawaterco.ir

Company type

Public

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Asia Water Development Engineering Company is an Iranian public joint-stock operator that designs, builds, and runs the Bandar Abbas Seawater Reverse Osmosis desalination complex, supplying industrial water to major mines (Sar-Cheshmeh, Gol Gohar, Chadormalu) and drinking water to Hormozgan, Kerman, and Yazd provinces under long-term BOO contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seawater Desalination and Industrial Water Supply

NAICS

Water Supply and Irrigation Systems (221310)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Desalination Plant Construction (IMAFAGAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Treatment Plant Construction (Drinking Water) (IMAFAGAA), Water & Wastewater Treatment Plant Equipment (Clarifiers, Aeration, Membrane Systems) (IMAHAEAJ)

Keywords

• Seawater desalination services
• Industrial water supply
• Reverse osmosis systems
• Water infrastructure construction
• Municipal water treatment

Headquarters

HQ city

Tehran

HQ country

Iran

HQ region

Middle East

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Water Supply Contracts: Long-term water purchase agreements (B.O.O - Build, Own, Operate) with major mining companies and government bodies for industrial and drinking water supply.
2. Seawater Desalination Services: Desalinated water production and supply to Hormozgan, Kerman, and Yazd provinces for drinking and industrial purposes.
3. Water Transmission Services: Water transmission infrastructure operation for supplying water to central plateau industries.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Asia Water Development Engineering Company operates Iran's largest seawater desalination complex in Bandar Abbas under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model. It designs, constructs, owns and operates multi-unit SWRO desalination facilities producing desalinated seawater that is supplied under long-term contracts to industrial mining customers (Sar-Cheshmeh Copper, Gol Gohar, Chadormalu) and to provincial governments for drinking water (Hormozgan, Kerman, Yazd). Each unit produces 200,000 m³/day, with two units currently operational and additional units planned to reach 1.4 million m³/day total capacity.

Product overview

Asia Water Development Engineering Company operates Iran's largest seawater desalination complex in Bandar Abbas. The integrated system comprises Infrastructure (intake structures, marine pipelines, storage tanks, electrical substations) and multiple Desalination Units (each 200,000 m³/day capacity). The process flow includes seawater intake, pre-treatment via DAF and DMF systems, SWRO (Seawater Reverse Osmosis) with 19,971 membranes, and post-treatment. Unit One (completed 2020 via BOO) and Unit Two (inaugurated October 2024) are operational; Unit Three is in design phase. Future Units 4-7 will be built based on demand. The complex serves industrial water needs for mining companies (Sar Cheshmeh Copper, Gol Gohar, Chadormalu) and drinking water for Hormozgan, Kerman, and Yazd provinces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bandar Abbas Desalination Unit One First operational seawater desalination unit of the Bandar Abbas Desalination Complex with 200,000 m³/day capacity, delivering treated water for industrial and municipal supply. Built under BOO model and currently in commercial operation.
• Bandar Abbas Desalination Unit Two Second operational seawater desalination unit at Bandar Abbas with 200,000 m³/day capacity, bringing total complex capacity to 400,000 m³/day (140 million m³/year). Supplies industrial customers Sar-Cheshmeh, Gol Gohar, Chadormalu and provincial drinking water for Hormozgan, Kerman, Yazd.
• Bandar Abbas Desalination Complex — Infrastructure Section Integrated supporting infrastructure for the desalination complex, including seawater intake structure (95m long, 12m deep with 7 active inlets and 19 pumps at 1,640 kW each), onshore transfer pipelines, 9 deep-foundation storage tanks (each on ~440 piles of 30-40m length), electrical substations, chlorination building, brine discharge weir box (3.2 million m³/day capacity), and administrative facilities.
• Industrial and Potable Water Supply Service (BOO Long-term Contracts) Recurring water supply service under long-term Build-Own-Operate purchase agreements delivered to enterprise mining customers (Sar-Cheshmeh Copper Complex, Gol Gohar Sirjan Mining, Chadormalu Mining) and to provincial governments (Hormozgan, Kerman, Yazd) for industrial process water and municipal drinking water respectively. When fully built, the complex will cover 70%+ of drinking water needs for the three provinces.

Quantifiable outcome

• 200,000 m³/day additional capacity per desalination unit
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Persian Gulf Water Supply and Transfer Company (شرکت تامین و انتقال آب خلیج فارس)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent company holding 99.99% of shares (74,999,994,999 shares). Responsible for water transfer aspect of the Persian Gulf water project while Asia Water handles desalination.
• Pars Avin Tarava Company (شرکت پارس آوین تراوا)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnowledge-based subsidiary company developing portable and fixed desalination plants up to 10,000 m³/day capacity using RO and thermal technologies (MED, MSF).
• GIMIDCOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner stakeholder in Pars Avin Tarava subsidiary operations.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions: Global water utility and technology incumbent with broad portfolio including desalination; serves as the broader incumbent benchmark rather than a direct BOO specialist.
• Suez Water Technologies & Solutions: Global water services incumbent with desalination and treatment offerings across municipal and industrial segments; broad incumbent comparable rather than Iran-focused.

Direct peers

• Fisia Italimpianti: Italian EPC contractor specializing in desalination and water treatment plants globally; comparable SWRO and thermal desalination project execution.
• Metito: UAE-headquartered water treatment EPC and BOT developer active across the Middle East; comparable industrial and municipal desalination BOO delivery.
• Doosan Enerbility: South Korean heavy engineering and EPC contractor with one of the world's largest desalination references; directly comparable SWRO and multi-unit project delivery.
• Sidem (Veolia): Veolia-owned EPC contractor for large thermal and RO desalination plants worldwide; directly comparable seawater desalination execution and BOO experience.
• IDE Technologies: Israel-based pioneer of large-scale seawater reverse osmosis with global project references; direct competitor to Asia Water's SWRO-based BOO desalination model.
• ACWA Power: Saudi-listed developer and operator of power and desalination plants under long-term BOO/PPA contracts; directly comparable BOO structure and Middle East desalination execution.
• Acciona Agua: Spanish EPC and operator of seawater desalination and water treatment infrastructure; comparable large-scale RO plant delivery and O&M business.

Emerging players

• VA Tech Wabag: Indian-listed pure-play water EPC and services company active across municipal and industrial segments; emerging-market desalination comparable.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
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Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Asia Water Development Engineering Company