Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is characterized by challenges and achievements. One of the main challenges is
water scarcity
Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water Water resources, resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water ...
. In order to overcome water scarcity, substantial investments have been undertaken in
seawater desalination, water distribution, sewerage and
wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...
. Today about 50% of drinking water comes from desalination, 40% from the mining of non-renewable groundwater and only 10% from surface water in the mountainous southwest of the country. The capital
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
, located in the heart of the country, is supplied with desalinated water pumped from the
Arabian Gulf over a distance of 467 km. Water is provided almost for free to residential users. Despite improvements, service quality remains poor, for example in terms of continuity of supply. Another challenge is weak institutional capacity and
governance
Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...
, reflecting general characteristics of the public sector in Saudi Arabia. Among the achievements is a significant increases in desalination, and in access to water, the expansion of wastewater treatment, as well as the use of treated effluent for the irrigation of
urban green space
In land-use planning, urban green space is open-space areas reserved for parks and other "green spaces", including plant life, water features -also referred to as blue spaces- and other kinds of natural environment. Most urban open spaces are ...
s, and for agriculture.
Since 2000, the government has increasingly relied on the private sector to operate water and sanitation infrastructure, beginning with desalination and wastewater treatment plants. Since the creation of the National Water Company (NWC) in 2008, the operation of urban water distribution systems in the four largest cities has gradually been delegated to private companies as well. The apparent paradox of very low water tariffs and
water privatization
Water privatization is short for private sector participations in the provision of Water supply, water services and sanitation. Water privatization has a variable history in which its popularity and favorability has fluctuated in the market and p ...
is explained by government subsidies. The government buys desalinated water from private operators at high prices and resells the bulk water for free. Likewise, the government directly pays private operators that run the water distribution and sewer systems of large cities under
management contract
A management contract is an arrangement under which operational control of an enterprise is vested by contract in a separate enterprise that performs the necessary managerial functions in return for a fee. Management contracts involve not just sell ...
s. Furthermore, it fully subsidizes investments in water distribution and sewers.
Water utilities
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does ...
are expected to recover an increasing share of their costs from the sale of treated effluent to industries. In January 2016 water and sewer tariffs were increased for the first time in more than a decade, which resulted in discontent and in the sacking of the Minister of Water and Energy Abdullah Al-Hussayen in April 2016.
Access
According to the Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation of the
WHO
Who or WHO may refer to:
* Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun
* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism
* World Health Organization
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
and
UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
, the latest reliable source on access to water and sanitation in Saudi Arabia is the 2004 census. It indicates that 97% of the population had access to an improved source of drinking water and 99% had access to
improved sanitation
Improved sanitation (related to but distinct from a "safely managed sanitation service") is a term used to categorize types of sanitation for monitoring purposes. It refers to the management of human feces at the household level. The term was coi ...
. For 2015, the JMP estimates that access to sanitation increased to 100%. Sanitation was primarily through on-site solutions and only about 40% of the population was connected to sewers.
In 2015, still 886 thousand people lacked access to "improved" water.
Service quality
Drinking water. Despite clear improvements, the quality of service remains insufficient. For example, few cities enjoy continued service, and water pressure is often inadequate. In Riyadh water was available only once every 2.5 days in 2011, while in Jeddah it is available only every 9 days. This is still better than in 2008, when the respective figures were 5 and 23 days.
[Global Water Intelligence:Becoming a world-class water utility, April 2011] While systematic data on service quality are now available for several cities, they are not publicly available. In some localities groundwater used for drinking water supply is naturally contaminated with levels of
fluoride
Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts typ ...
in excess of the recommended level of 0.7 to 1.2 mg/L. For example, a 1990 study showed that the fluoride level in drinking water in Mecca was 2.5 mg/L. In Riyadh the level of fluoride is reduced far below the recommended level by blending groundwater with desalinated seawater.
Wastewater. There are 33 wastewater treatment plants with a capacity of 748 million cubic meters per year, and 15 more are under construction. Much of the treated wastewater is being
reused to water green spaces in the cities (landscaping), for
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
in agriculture and other uses.
Concentrated sewage from septic tanks is collected through trucks. In Jeddah the trucks dumped sewage for 25 years in a valley that was euphemistically called the "Musk Lake". The pond, holding more than 50 million cubic meters of sewage, almost overflowed during heavy rains in November 2009 threatening to flood parts of the city. After that, the King ordered the lake to be dried up within a year with the help of the National Water Company.
Water use
Total municipal water use in Saudi Arabia has been estimated at 2.28 cubic kilometers per year in 2010, or 13% of total water use. Agriculture accounts for 83% of water use and industry for only 4%. Demand has been growing at the rate of 4.3% per annum (average for the period 1999-2004), in tandem with urban population growth (around 3%). Water supply is usually not
metered
A measuring instrument is a device to measure a physical quantity. In the physical sciences, quality assurance, and engineering, measurement is the activity of obtaining and comparing physical quantities of real-world objects and events. Esta ...
, neither at the source nor the distribution point. It is tentatively estimated that average water consumption for those connected to the network is about 235 liters per capita per day, a level lower than in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
[W.A. Abderrahman: Water Management in ArRiyadh, International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 22, No. 2, June 2006, p. 281]
Water reuse
Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include: ...
in Saudi Arabia is growing, both at the level of buildings and at the level of cities. For example,
ablution
Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to:
* Ablution as hygiene
* Ablution as ritual purification
** Ablution in Islam:
*** Wudu, daily wash
*** Ghusl, bathing ablution
*** Tayammum, waterless ablution
** Ablution in Christianity
* ...
water in mosques is being reused for the flushing of toilets.
[Walid A. Abderrahma]
Water demand management in Saudi Arabia
, in: Water Management in Islam, IDRC, 2001, Edited by Naser I. Faruqui, Asit K. Biswas, and Murad J. Bino At the city level, treated
wastewater
Wastewater is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of domestic, industr ...
is being reused for landscaping, irrigation and in industries such as refining. In Riyadh 50 million cubic meter per year is pumped over and 60m elevation to irrigate 15,000 hectares of wheat, fodder, orchards and palm trees.
Water conservation measures, such as awareness campaigns through the media and educational pamphlets, have been carried out. In addition, in Riyadh a leakage control program has been carried out and a special, higher water tariff has been introduced. Furthermore, free water appliances (taps, shower heads, toilet boxes) were distributed, reportedly resulting in a decrease of residential water use of between 25-35%.
[W.A. Abderrahman:Water Management in ArRiyadh, International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 22, No. 2, June 2006, p. 287]
An unknown, but large proportion of the population is dependent on supply through water tankers. For example, Riyadh experiences water shortages and intermittent supply, especially during the summer peak demand. To cope with the shortage, 18 million cubic meters of water was distributed during one summer by private contractors. With the commissioning of a new large well field at Al Honai this problem has been reduced.
Water resources
Saudi Arabia is one of the driest regions in the world, with no perennial rivers. Water is obtained from four distinct sources:
* non-renewable
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
from the deep
fossil aquifers
*
desalinated water
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwa ...
* surface water
* renewable groundwater from shallow alluvial aquifers
Only the last two sources are renewable. Their volume, however, is minimal. Desalination plants provide about half the country's drinking water. About 40% comes from groundwater. The remainder comes from surface water (about 10%). Desalinated water is prevalent along the coasts, surface water in the southwest region and groundwater elsewhere. The capital
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
, however, is supplied to a great extent with desalinated water pumped from the Persian Gulf over 467 km to the city located in the heart of the country.
Fossil groundwater
Current levels of groundwater extraction far exceed the level of natural recharge: Groundwater is being "mined". For example, the
Al-Ahsa aquifer in the Eastern Province experienced a drop of 150 meters over the past 25 years. Since the usable volume of the aquifers is not known, it is not clear how long groundwater mining can be sustained. Estimates of the groundwater stored in the principal aquifers are controversial. According to one estimate, the amount of water stored before modern farming started was 500 billion cubic meters, equivalent to the amount of water in
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
, and by 2012 about 80% of that water had been extracted.
Desalination
Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of desalinated water in the world. In 2011 the volume of water supplied by the country's 27 desalination plants at 17 locations was 3.3 million m3/day (1.2 billion m3/year). 6 plants are located on the East Coast and 21 plants on the Red Sea Coast. 12 plants use
multi-stage flash distillation
Multi-stage flash distillation (MSF) is a water desalination process that distills sea water by flashing a portion of the water into steam in multiple stages of what are essentially countercurrent heat exchangers. Current MSF facilities may ha ...
(MSF) and 7 plants use
multi-effect distillation
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...
(MED). Both MSF and MED plants are integrated with power plants (dual-purpose plants), using steam from the power plants as a source of energy. 8 plants are single-purpose plants that use
reverse osmosis
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a water purification process that uses a partially permeable membrane to separate ions, unwanted molecules and larger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an applied pressure is used to overcome osmotic pre ...
(RO) technology and power from the grid. By far the largest plant in 2012,
Jubail
Jubail ( ar, الجبيل, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 684,531 as of 2021. It is home to the largest industrial city in the world. It is also home to th ...
II on the East Coast, is a MSF plant built in subsequent stages since 1983 with a capacity of almost 950,000 m3/day that supplies Riyadh. The largest RO plant in 2012 was located in Yanbu on the Red Sea. It supplies the city of
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
and has a capacity of 128,000 m3/day. The MED plants are much smaller. Mecca receives its water from plants in Jeddah and Shoaiba, just south of Jeddah. Ras al Khair, the largest plant of the country with a capacity of 1 million m3/day was opened in 2014, using RO technology.
Saudi Arabia holds approximately 35% of the Arab Region’s
desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
capacity which includes
Algeria
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, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
,
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
,
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
,
Mauretania
Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...
,
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
,
Qatar
Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...
,
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
, and
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. Furthermore, water
desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
requires immense amount of energy, 25% of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas production is directed towards
cogeneration power desalination
Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...
plants (CPDPs) to generate electricity and produce water. It is estimated by 2030, 50% of Saudi Arabia’s local oil and gas will solely be used to meet the rapidly growing demand for water.
Solar desalination. The first contract for a large
solar-powered desalination
Solar desalination is a desalination technique powered by solar energy. The two common methods are direct (thermal) and indirect (photovoltaic).
History
Solar distillation has been used for thousands of years. Early Greek mariners and Persian al ...
plant in Saudi Arabia was awarded in January 2015 to a consortium consisting of
Abengoa
Abengoa, S.A. was a Spanish multinational company in the green infrastructure, energy and water sectors. The company was founded in 1941 by Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, and was based in Seville, Sp ...
from Spain and Advanced Water Technology (AWT), the commercial arm of the
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST; ar, مدينة الملك عبدالعزيز للعلوم والتقنية) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is an organization established in 1977 as the Saudi Arabian National Center for Science & ...
(KACST). The $130 million reverse osmosis plant, co-located with a photovoltaic plant in Al Khafji near the Kuwaiti border, was planned to have a capacity of 60,000 m3/day. The plant would rely on grid power at night and its operator expected to sell electricity to the grid in the future. However, Abengoa filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2015, putting the future of the plant in jeopardy.
Once the first plant is commissioned, a plant ten times larger is due to be built at a hitherto undisclosed location. Both plants are part of a national plan, launched in 2010 and called the King Abdullah Initiative for Solar Water Desalination, to massively expand solar desalination.
Floating desalination. Desalination barges have operated since 2008 to meet high seasonal demand for potable water along the Red Sea coast of the Kingdom. In 2010 the largest floating desalination plant in the world, with a production capacity of 25,000 m3/day (9 million m3/year), was launched on a barge in
Yanbu
Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...
. It is sufficient to supply a city with more than 100,000 inhabitants with drinking water.
Surface water and alluvial aquifers
The country's mean annual surface runoff has been estimated at more than 2 billion cubic meters per year. The country has eleven renewable alluvial aquifers with an estimated combined mean annual recharge of nearly 1 billion cubic meters per year. According to the World Resources Institute the renewable groundwater and surface water resources overlap, i.e. the entire renewable groundwater resources originate in recharge from rivers (
Wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
s) so that total renewable water resources are in the order of 2 cubic kilometres/year.
Surface resources and renewable aquifers are concentrated in the west and southwest, where rainfall is higher.
History and recent developments
The Saudi water sector, like the entire country, has undergone tremendous changes over the past decades from a system based on the use of local renewable water resources for small-scale irrigation and limited domestic uses to a system largely based on the use of desalinated water and fossil groundwater for large-scale irrigation and domestic, commercial and industrial uses at a level comparable to developed countries. The Saline Water Conversion Corporation, created in 1965, has been an important player in this process of change.
Until 1994 domestic water use was entirely free in Saudi Arabia. Only then a very moderate tariff has been introduced. In the early 2000s the government decided to involve the private sector not only in the construction of infrastructure, but to expand its role also to the financing and operation of infrastructure through Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) projects. The first BOT project in the water sector was a wastewater treatment plant in Jeddah, followed by Independent Water and Power Projects (IWPPs) for integrated power and desalination plants.
In 2003 the Ministry of Water and Energy was created. It took over the water resources management function from the Ministry of Agricultural and Water and the responsibility for water supply and sanitation from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. In the same year the Water & Electricity Company was created as an off-taker for water and electricity produced by the IWPPs.
In 2008 the privatization program was expanded to drinking water supply when the Kingdom's first management contract was signed for the capital Riyadh, followed by two more management contracts (see below). Beginning with the expiration of the management contract in Riyadh in 2014, it is planned to award 20 to 30-year lease contracts for the cities covered by management contracts. As of late 2014, the timing was pushed back to 2017/18 and NWC expected to take a 40% share in each of the Joint Ventures that would be selected to run the water and sewer systems of the three cities. According to NWC
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Loay Al-Musallam the Joint Ventures can be profitable despite low water tariffs through the sale of treated effluent, because bulk water and capital investments are provided for free.
Due to generous
subsidies
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
for water provided by the government of Saudi Arabia to its people, the country experienced rapid growth in
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
areas. In 1980, the volume of water consumed in the country was approximately 7.4 Billion Cubic Meter, and increased to astonishingly 20.2 BCM in 1994, and by 1995, 35% of
non-renewable resource
A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic mat ...
s of
groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
were drained. In the year 2000, the government of Saudi Arabia took action to mitigate water consumption by decreasing the
subsidies
A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
and incentivising the usage of water efficient technologies such as
drop irrigation and
soil moisture sensing equipment. This has led the
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
farming industry to gradually shrink over the years, from producing 4 million tons in 1992 to 1.8 million tons in 2000, and in 2016 the production has come to a halt.
Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
Until the establishment of the National Water Company (NWC) in 2008 there was no separation between institutions in charge of policy and regulation on the one hand, and service provision on the other. Instead all key sector functions were the direct responsibility of a single Ministry, the Ministry of Water and Electricity. The quality and efficiency of service provision are hampered by the many weaknesses afflicting the public sector in Saudi Arabia in general. These include an inadequate civil servants recruitment policy, insufficient salaries, limited skills, no
accountability
Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...
for action taken (or not taken), a lack of strategic planning, and ad-hoc investment decisions.
Policy and regulation
Since 2016 the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) is responsible for policy and regulation of water and sanitation services. There is no separate regulatory agency for the sector. The recently established Electricity and Co-generating Regulatory Authority (ECRA) only regulates privately owned desalination plants. Agriculture is by far the main water user in the country and contributes in the depletion of fossil aquifers on which a large share of the country's drinking water supply depends.
Service provision
The responsibility for service provision is shared by the private and public sectors. The National Water Company (NWC) is in charge of water supply and sanitation in the largest cities -
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
,
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
,
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and
Taif
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
as of 2013 in partnership with foreign private operators. In other cities water supply and sanitation is still the direct responsibility of MOWE through its regional directorates and branches. Local government, which is in charge of service provision in many other countries, has no role in service provision in Saudi Arabia.
Desalination plants are run by the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) which provides water for free to the NWC or by private companies called Independent Water and Power Projects (IWPPs) which sell water and energy to a public entity called the Water & Energy Company. Many wastewater treatment plants are run by private companies under
BOT contracts.
The National Water Company and management contracts
The National Water Company (NWC) plans to become a "leading water utility in the region" within 4 to 7 years after its creation in 2008. NWC's twelve-member Board is chaired by the Minister of Water and Electrity and includes the CEO of the company.
NWC contracts out water distribution services for individual cities to the private sector under management contracts. Key objectives include improving service quality, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The contracts are preceded by one-year technical assistance contracts. This is followed by a further 1-2 year validation period during which the baseline and target data for key
performance indicator
A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it en ...
s are being reviewed. Tariff levels will not be affected. The scope of the contracts includes training and qualifying Saudi nationals, as well as research and development with the aim to transfer technology.
The three contracts signed so far are:
* In April 2008 for the capital for
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
with the French firm
Veolia
Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. It pr ...
, covering six years and valued at $60m,
* A seven-year contract with the French firm
SUEZ
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...
for
Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
,
* In June 2010 for
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and
Taif
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
with the French firm
Groupe Saur, covering five years and valued at $46m.
As required by Saudi law
Groupe Saur's team working in Mecca consists entirely of Muslims. Further management contracts are expected to be tendered for
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
and Greater
Dammam
Dammam ( ar, الدمّام ') is the fifth-most populous city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. It is the capital of the Eastern Province. With a total population of 1,252,523 as of 2020. The judicial and administrative ...
.
NWC says that between its creation in 2008 and 2012 it has saved 115.4 million m3 of water through leak reduction, improved water quality compliance from 82% to 98.7%, increased customer satisfaction from 45% to 83%, reduced the number of projects that are behind schedule from 104 to 3, and has improved its annual cash collection from SAR561 million ($149 million) to SAR1,119 million ($298 million).
NWC also plans and oversees infrastructure projects such as the SAR 1.6 billion ($426 million) Riyadh Water Supply Programme completed in 2013 that included drilling 43 new wells and building 27 brackish water desalination plants.
NWC had initially been expected to take over
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
in 2011, as well as
Dammam
Dammam ( ar, الدمّام ') is the fifth-most populous city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. It is the capital of the Eastern Province. With a total population of 1,252,523 as of 2020. The judicial and administrative ...
and
Al-Khobar in 2013.
The Saline Water Conversion Corporation
The Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) is in charge of operating the country's publicly owned desalination plants, and operating a network of water transmission pipelines to transport the water in bulk from the plants to the major consumption centers, some of them located far inland such as
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
. SWCC is the biggest water desalination entity in the world. It has more than 4.6 million m
3/day water installed capacity. SWCC has a research department and a training center. Although it formally is a corporation, SWCC is not run like an independent company on commercial principles, but rather like a branch of the government. Its main product, bulk water, is provided for free to its main customer, NWC. As of 2016, SWCC holds some SAR 80 billion ($21 billion) of assets.
[
In 2008 the government announced plans to "privatize" SWCC by transforming it into a holding company. The holding company would initially supervise affiliated production firms that would run the desalination plants. Subsequently, it would sell off the firms and include the private sector in a way similar to what has been done with the Independent Water and Power Projects (see below). The first plant to be privatized would be in ]Yanbu
Yanbu ( ar, ينبع, lit=Spring, translit=Yanbu'), also known simply as Yambu or Yenbo, is a city in the Al Madinah Province of western Saudi Arabia. It is approximately 300 kilometers northwest of Jeddah (at ). The population is 222,360 (2 ...
. However, the plans have been modified in 2010: The old plants continue to be operated by SWCC, while new plants are built and operated by the private sector. In June 2016, amid low oil prices, it was decided to revive the initial privatization plan. Water minister Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli and SWCC governor Abdulrahman Al-Ibrahim said that the company will become a holding company, served by local production units. Privatisation will be in two stages: first, investment partners for the desalination plants ("production units") will be sought; then shares of the holding company will be sold on the Saudi stock market. Around SAR110 billion ($29.3 billion) funding for investment will be needed by SWCC over the next 15 years.
Independent Water and Power Producers for desalination
In the early 2000s, Saudi Arabia began to invite the private sector not only to build, but also to finance and operate new desalination plants. A Water and Energy Corporation (WEC) was established as an off-taker that buys water used for municipal uses from the IWPPs through 20-year power and water purchase agreements (PWPAs). The government fully guarantees the payments due from WEC to the IWPPs. This follows the example of Persian Gulf countries
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...
, which had introduced IWPPs several years earlier. The first such project in Saudi Arabia was the Shoaiba III Independent Water and Power Producer (IWPP) signed in 2007 and completed in 2010. It is located on the Red Sea and provides water to Jiddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
, Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
and Taif
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
. The second IWPP was the Jubail II project, located next to the Jubail industrial complex on the Persian Gulf coast. The off-taker for the industrial water is the Saudi Company Marafiq, the utility that provides power and water to the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu. Formed by Royal Decree in 2000 and established in 2003, it is owned by four public entities and seven private shareholders.
In 2007 Saudi Arabia had plans to launch ten further IWPPs by 2016 with a total investment of $16 billion. However, the Saudi government changed its approach and decided to procure its plant in Ras al-Khair and other plants from contractors and to operate them through SWCC, as it had been the case before IWPPs were introduced. Ras Al-Khair was opened in 2014 as the largest desalination plant in the world, built at a cost of $7.2 billion.
IN 2016 WEC planned to become again an offtaker for an IWPP, the Al Kahfji solar desalination plant built by Advanced Water Technology (AWT). AWT was the contractor of the plant and could become its operator under a proposed off-take plan. Another large desalination plan on the drawing board is the Jeddah 4 plant that could be implemented as an IWPP, although pre-bidding as a normal construction contract had already been initiated.
The Water & Energy Company
The Water & Energy Company, created in 2003, is the off-taker for desalined water produced by privately operated desalination plants. It is jointly owned by SWCC and the Saudi Electricity Company (SEC).
Project finance for wastewater treatment plants
Project finance Project finance is the long-term financing of infrastructure and industrial projects based upon the projected cash flows of the project rather than the balance sheets of its sponsors. Usually, a project financing structure involves a number of equi ...
, i.e. financing secured primarily by the projected revenue stream of the project, has been commonly used to finance wastewater treatment plants in Saudi Arabia. In May 2002 the first wastewater contract in Saudi Arabia financed in this way, in this case as a BOT contract, was awarded to a consortium of local firms. The consortium was to rehabilitate, operate, maintain and upgrade the wastewater system of the Jeddah
Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
Industrial City over a period of 20 years and invest US$32 million. The government has awarded many more BOT wastewater treatment contracts since then, based on the revenue stream of long-term sales agreements for treated wastewater sold to major customers.[
]
Efficiency
The operational efficiency of water and sanitation services is typically measured through the level of non-revenue water and the ratio of staff per 1,000 connections.
Because of the low level of metering it is difficult to estimate the level of non-revenue water
Non revenue water (NRW) is water that has been produced and is "lost" before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses (through leaks, sometimes also referred to as physical losses) or apparent losses (for example through theft or meteri ...
in Saudi Arabia. Only in the case of Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the R ...
, where meters exist, a meaningful estimate has been done, resulting in an estimated 34% of non-revenue water
Non revenue water (NRW) is water that has been produced and is "lost" before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses (through leaks, sometimes also referred to as physical losses) or apparent losses (for example through theft or meteri ...
. It is broken down into 21% physical losses and 13% commercial losses from undermetering, illegal connections and authorized unbilled consumption such as for mosques. In addition, 24% of billed consumption is not being paid. The overall level is high by international standards.
A recent benchmarking study showed that the regional directorates are employing 10,500 people to serve 5.7 million customers. This corresponds to about 10 staff per 1,000 connections, which is more than three times higher than in the case of efficiently run utilities. The actual number of people employed in service provision is even higher because many directorates contract out specific services.
Tariffs and cost recovery
Tariffs. The Kingdom has a single increasing block tariff structure for the entire country. Under that structure water and sewer tariffs per unit of water increase with consumption. The new residential tariff schedule - in force since January 1, 2016 and shown in USD equivalents at the exchange rate of January 2016 - is as follows:
Under the new tariff schedule the limit for the first consumption block now is 15 cubic meters per month, down from 50 cubic meters per month previously. The tariff is the first block remains extremely low, but it subsequently increases significantly. The new tariff schedule also introduces a sewer tariff which did not exist before in Saudi Arabia. Tariff adjustments had been proposed for at least six years, but had never been implemented.[Global Water Intelligence:Pressure grows for Saudi tariff reform, October 2010, p. 14] The increase came following a significant drop in oil prices. The Ministry of Water says that the majority of households would not be significantly affected by the increase, because their consumption remains within the lower consumption blocks. Commercial, industrial and government users are charged according to different, higher tariff schedules.
Prices for water sold by tanker trucks. A cubic meter of water supplied by a water tanker may cost as much as 6 Riyals (US$1.50), or about 20 times more than water supplied through the network. Citizens who are not connected to the piped network, who are often poor, pay up to 40 times more for water than connected households. The monthly water bill is about 1 Riyal (US$0.27), compared to an average mobile phone bill of 200 Riyals. The price of a 19 cubic meter tank is 150 SR, and the price of a 30 cubic meter tank is 180 SR. Although price may change during holidays and peak seasons, and not all cities are the same.
Sale of treated effluent. Through the Treated Sewage Effluent Initiative (TSEI) of the National Water Company, treated wastewater is sold to major water customers, such as industries or golf course operators, under long-term contracts of up to 25 years. This generates a revenue stream that recovers the costs of wastewater treatment under Build-Operate Transfer (BOT) projects financed by the private sector. As of 2011, it was estimated that NWC had signed TSE agreements worth more than 5 billion Saudi Riyals (USD 1.33 billion).
Cost recovery and subsidies. Before the 2016 tariff increase, on average "the government (was) only recovering one or two percent of its costs, and the (subsidy) plans are benefiting the rich, not the poor", according to Adil Bushnak. According to a 2000 estimate by the World Bank, the government paid annual subsidies of US$3.2 billion, equivalent to 1.7% of GDP and 7% of oil revenues.[World Ban]
A Water Sector Assessment Report on the Countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf
2005, p. 27 Desalinated water is provided for free by SWCC to NWC. Before the introduction of the private sector in Riyadh, the Riyadh branch of MOWE – probably one of the best performing branches - had revenues of 370 million Riyals in 2004, but expenses of 570 million Riyals.
Investment and financing
All investment for water and sanitation, including desalination, is funded directly by the central government's budget. The 7th and 8th Development Plans (covering the periods 2000-2005 and 2006-2010 respectively) allocations for water (including irrigation), covering a period of ten years, amounted to Saudi Riyal 34.9 billion (US$9.2 billion) and Saudi Riyal 41.6 billion (US$11.1 billion) respectively, equivalent to US$2 billion per year.
It has been estimated that between 1975 and 2000 a total of more than US$100bn has been invested in water supply and sanitation, and that a further US$130bn will be needed between 2002 and 2022, corresponding to US$6.5 billion per year or more than US$200 per capita and year. This level of investment in water per capita is among the highest in the world, higher than in the US, the UK or Germany, due to the high cost of desalination and the need to transport water over long distances. It corresponds to about 1.5% of GDP.
See also
*Peak water
Peak water is a concept that underlines the growing constraints on the availability, quality, and use of freshwater resources.
Peak water was defined in a 2010 peer-reviewed article in the ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'' by ...
* List of water companies in Saudi Arabia
References
Further reading
* U.S. Saudi Arabian Business Counci
The Water Sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - Summary
ca. 2009
* World Bank / Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: The Water Sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2007.
International Benchmarking Network (IB-Net) for water and sanitation
* Elie Elhad
Dry Aquifers In Arab Countries And The Looming Food Crisis
2008
* Elie Elhad
Household water and sanitation services in Saudi Arabia: an analysis of economic, political and ecological issues
Occasional Paper 56, SOAS/KCL Water Research Group, School of Oriental & African Studies and King's College London, University of London, May 2004
External links
Ministry of Water and Electricity
National Water Company
Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC)
Water & Electricity Co.
Electricity and Co-Generation Regulatory Authority
{{DEFAULTSORT:Water Supply And Sanitation In Saudi Arabia