Soil quality is related to ecosystem sustainability and can be negatively affected by anthropogenic hazards. Soil quality and ecosystem health are harmed by petroleum contaminations normally caused by oil operations, such as exploration, drilling, transfer, transport, refinery, and distribution. Soil water repellency (SWR) of petroleum-contaminated soils is a retarding factor for bioremediation operations. This study is a pilot-scale SWR reduction of saline-contaminated soil obtained from a polluted area in Iran. The initial total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) content of the soil was between 6.9 and 17.1 g kg−1 and was contaminated with heavy crude oil. Initial SWR was between 1500 and 12,500 S. The recovery procedure commenced with sugarcane bagasse and compost mixtures were added to soils. After irrigation and aeration of piles, soils recovered approximately in 7 days. The water repellency reduced from extremely water repellent (number 9 in the classification of SWR) to slightly water repellent (number 2–3 in the classification of SWR), which was about 6 S in the moderately, 8 S in highly and 12 S in very highly polluted soil piles.