The first water desalination unit was established in 1928 by order of the late King Abdulaziz. The unit, known as Kandasa, provided drinking water for Jeddah. Today, Saudi Arabia is the largest desalinated water producer in the world, with 18.1% of global production. The country consumed 2.84 million cubic meters of desalinated water in 2007.

SWCC, which was established as the primary producer and distributor of potable water, operates 29 plants across the country and has a total installed capacity of 3.3 million cubic meters of water per day. SWCC is also a major contributor to the Saudi electricity grid, with an output of 5,029 megawatts.