Kingdom third largest consumer of water JEDDAH - The Middle East region gears up for water reuse technologies as the region has less than 1 percent of the world's available water supply, while 5 percent of the world's population resides in the region and North Africa. MEED reported earlier that sewage treatment capacity will have to more than double over the next six years in order to accommodate the region's economic growth. While the global recession has impacted Middle Eastern countries, growth remains dynamic among the GCC (the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf), which includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Nadia Abboud, marketing manager, water purification, for Severn Trent Services, said in a study that water reuse technologies are emerging as a vital solution to the region's and the world's water shortage challenges. With proper treatment, seawater and wastewater can be reused for beneficial purposes such as drinking water, agricultural and landscape irrigation and industrial processes, enabling communities and countries to stretch limited freshwater supplies. More than 70 percent of wastewater is reused in many GCC countries, and many of these countries are aiming for 100 percent reuse of treated sewage effluent within the next few years. Saudi Arabia is the third largest consumer of water per capita in the world. The Kingdom currently reuses 18 percent of the wastewater it produces daily. In the next several years, it also is expected to become the third largest water reuse market in the world after the United States and China, according to the Sustainable Water Alliance. Currently, only about 18 percent of the 1.84 million m³ of wastewater the country processes daily is reused. In order to tap this potential market more effectively, Saudi Arabia has made significant changes to its water sector regulatory system to make it more investor friendly. These changes have also enabled the creation of organizations such as the National Water Company, which is planning to invest some $23 billion in Saudi Arabia's sewage collection and treatment infrastructure over the next 20 years. The investment aims to increase wastewater network coverage to 100 percent, up from the current coverage level of 45 percent. Global Water Intelligence (GWI) said in its 2009 report on global water reuse that the market for water reuse is on the verge of major expansion. Between 2009 and 2016, it is expected that capital expenditure on advanced water reuse will grow at an annual rate of 19.5 percent. GWI cites four major factors creating growth in the water reuse sector: • Pressure on the world's water resources driven by climate change and population growth • Growth of cities, creating greater stress on water resources and sanitation systems • Environmental concerns have curtailed other solutions to water scarcity, including the construction of large dams and desalination • New, proven technologies that have been proven to safely treat reclaimed water to be blended in reservoirs or aquifers for potable purposes. GWI also noted a growing use of reused water in applications other than the traditional agricultural market. Increasingly, urban water reuse is helping to reduce urban water stress and provide a higher return on investment to users of water reuse technologies. Advancing wastewater technologies have empowered Middle Eastern countries to set their sights on dramatically increased reuse targets. The key to the success of a wastewater reuse program is tertiary filtration, capable of consistently producing a high quality effluent while enhancing the disinfection process - both chlorination and UV - and improving water quality. Good tertiary filters offer the benefit of lowering total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity and biological oxygen demand to meet the required discharge permits. From the standpoint of cost and technical efficiency, biological treatment has proven to be an excellent tertiary treatment technology for reuse applications. As Middle Eastern countries seek to deal with their water shortages through reuse and recycling technologies, it can be useful to draw upon the experiences of other countries
