JEDDAH: The National Water Co., Saudi Arabia's state-owned utility, will put projects costing SR3 billion ($800 million) into operation next year. The Riyadh-based company “will focus on expansion plans and construction projects next year,” NWC's Chief Executive Officer Loay Al-Mussalam said Wednesday. The projects will be funded by the finance ministry, he said. Saudi Arabia wants the private sector to manage water networks to conserve resources and ensure consistent supplies as population growth spurs demand. The Kingdom needs SR124.9 billion in investments in desalination and water recycling plants, Riyadh-based NCB Capital said in a report. The Kingdom gets about 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain a year, and most of that evaporates due to temperatures that can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer. The government revised electricity rates in July. “We need a solution to charge tariffs to sustain further enhancements to the water network,” Musallam said. “We see the tariff charges as an improvement.” National Water will carry out a water rehabilitation project at the Manfonha Wastewater Treatment plant in Riyadh and build a reservoir in Jeddah as part of their expansion plans next year. Each project costs SR400 million. “The Jeddah reservoir is important for sustaining the city's water supply during the peak summer and religious tourism times of the year when an influx of visitors causes a reduction in the available supply,” Musallam added. Meanwhile, Saline Water Conversion Corp. (SWCC), the Kingdom's biggest desalinator, is awaiting final government approval to sell off its water treatment plants, a company official said. The decision is “with the Supreme Economic Council,” Ahmed Al-Mudaiheem, SWCC deputy governor for projects and technical affairs, said in an interview today. “We are waiting for the approval in order for us to move.” Saudi Arabia, the world's largest desalinated water producer, is developing projects to meet local demand. The Kingdom needs SR124.9 billion ($33 billion) in investments in desalination and water recycling plants, Riyadh-based NCB Capital said in a report.SWCC started the process of selling its 30 desalination plants in 2005 to meet rising demand for water and improve water resource management, Fehied Al-Shareef, the governor of SWCC, said in a statement on its website. The company produced about 1.01 billion cubic meters of water in 2009. Saudi Arabia receives about 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain a year and most of that evaporates due to temperatures that can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in the summer. Riyadh takes about 60 percent of its water from SWCC, while Jeddah gets 95 percent, Al-Mudaiheem said. SWCC is now implementing about SR42 billion in projects, Al-Mudaiheem said. These include a desalination facility in Ras Al Zour to supply “water to Riyadh and other cities,” he said. The plant will supply 900,000 cubic meters of drinking water a day to Riyadh and 100,000 cubic meters to the northern town of Hafr Al-Batin, the Saudi Press Agency reported last month. “We have another project we are tendering for right now in Yanbu,” Al-Mudaiheem said. The project, including a plant and a pipeline, is expected to cost as much as SR18 billion, he said. Frost & Sullivan said in its study earlier that Saudi Arabia is expected to invest $53 billion in water projects over the next 15 years. About 70 percent of this investment is earmarked for sewage and wastewater treatment plants, it noted. “Though expensive, desalination projects continue to be the major water source in the region,” Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Nideshna Naidu said in the report. “The UAE is expected to increase its desalination capacity by around 76 percent to 14.1 million cubic meters a day by 2016,” Naidu added. “The region has a lot of potential, as recycled water is sued widely in landscaping and district cooling,” Naidu further said. Clean water is the oil of the twenty-first century.
