Blessing of water makes happiness flow in UAE
Mohammed visits Mai Dubai plant; firm to invest Dh600m more
dubai — His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, visited the Mai Dubai bottled drinking-water company and factory in in Dubai.
Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chairman of Mai Dubai; Jay Andres, CEO of Mai Dubai; and Mai Dubai staff welcomed Shaikh Mohammed to the premises.
“The launch of the Mai Dubai bottled drinking-water company and factory supports the directives of Shaikh Mohammed to provide potable water according to the highest international standards and make Dubai the happiest city on earth for residents and visitors. This milestone embodies the vision of Shaikh Mohammed who knows the importance of the blessing of water in our country,” said Al Tayer.
“After two years since the launch of the Mai Dubai bottled-drinkingwater company and factory, the plant uses the latest technologies and best global practices and quality standards in sterilisation and purification to produce bottled drinking water. The plant produces low-sodium drinking water that has a balanced range of minerals. It has already become a popular brand in the UAE within a short time,” added Al Tayer.
“The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority works to meet current and future demand for electricity and water according to the highest standards of reliability, efficiency and quality, and its commitment to enhance Dubai’s position as a role model in energy security, effectiveness and efficiency to meet all development requirements in the emirate,” said Al Tayer.
Al Tayer noted that commercial production started in March 2014. The factory has received FDA, HACCP, ISO:22000 and Emirates Quality Mark certifications. The factory has also received the FDA, HACCP and ISO, in addition to winning two certificates in the unit production eyed by Mai Dubai by 2020 from the current 16 million fourth quarter of 2014. Mai Dubai is now available across the UAE, and has delivered over 263 million cups and bottles. Mai Dubai can produce 16 million units and will expand to 50 million by 2020, based on a planned additional investment of Dh600 million.
Al Tayer also noted that Mai Dubai won the “Best Factory in Dubai in Food Safety” award by Dubai Municipality, with the highest A-Grade rating in 2015. Since April 2015, Mai Dubai has become the preferred bottled drinking water for all passengers on Emirates airline, and is now exporting its products to 13 countries in Asia, Europe, South Africa, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Libya.
Production lines are equipped with computerised optical sensors to identify that bottles can be filled, packaging issues in label placements or faulty cap placements, and automatically reject faulty bottles. Mai Dubai’s production lines are equipped with scanners that are connected to a computer system. This scans and identifies the expiry date printed on the bottles, and helps to avoid packaging problems in relation to printing and labelling, and faulty bottles are automatically rejected.
“The five-gallon line has been enhanced with a leak tester unit that inspects and detects holes and cracks by blowing pressurised air into the bottles, and automatically rejecting faulty bottles before they go into washing, sterilising, and filling. To ensure the highest standards of sterilisation, purity, and quality, Mai Dubai has a special isolated clean room where the latest filling technology maintains the quality of the water up to the moment where caps are placed and sealed. Caps are washed and sterilised with ultraviolettechnology and ozonated water before placement over the bottles,” said Al Tayer.
Al Tayer highlighted the process of water treatment at the Mai Dubai factory, and noted that the water is sourced from the Dewa’s reservoir and is piped directly to the water treatment unit using special pipes. Water is sterilised before filtration and multi-sand filters remove foreign particles. After carbon filters are activated, five-micron filters and ultraviolet units remove left-over foreign particles. Water goes through reverse osmosis for removal of very fine harmful particles. After the sterilisation process, Mai Dubai’s lowsodium and mineral-balanced recipe is added. Then, water goes through a one-micron filtration and ozone sterilisation process. Bottles and caps are washed and sterilised before being filled using state-ofthe-art technologies, before moved for automated packaging and being placed on pallets. — Wam