JEDDAH: Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal commissioned the second phase of the Rabigh desalination plant Wednesday. The new plant, which was established at a cost of SR211 million, will supply 18,000 cubic meters of water daily to Rabigh and neighboring villages of Thuwal and Mastura.
Speaking to reporters after opening the plant, Prince Khaled said: "I am happy to open this project on the sixth anniversary of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah's rule. Development projects in the Kingdom are the best in the world."
Loay Al-Musallam, CEO of National Water Company (NWC), said his company would invest more than SR86 billion during the next 20 years to construct sewage pipelines and establish wastewater treatment centers. He also said the privatization of the water sector would be completed in five years.
The expansion of the Rabigh plant comes after the establishment of King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal. The two giant projects have increased demand for water in the region. The new plant applies the most advanced desalination systems.
"We have applied the best technology for desalination in this plant to ensure high quality," said Thabit Al-Lehaibi, deputy governor of Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) for operation and technical affairs. "We have set up a 130-km pipeline and eight water tanks as part of the project," he said.
Al-Lehaibi said the water tanks have a combined capacity to store 36,000 cubic meters of water, adding that they are distributed in Rabigh, Thuwal and Mastura. There are two diesel tanks with a capacity of 6,000 cubic meters, which are enough to meet the plant's energy needs for a month.
The Rabigh plant is one of the four projects worth SR40 billion approved by the SWCC board in December 2009. They include the $9 billion Ras Azzour project designed to supply power and water required by Maaden's (Saudi Arabian Mining Co.) aluminum smelter and phosphate-processing facilities in the area.
The Kingdom is the largest producer of desalinated water in the world, churning out three million cubic meters daily. Saudi Arabia requires new investments worth more than $50 billion for desalination projects in the next 10 years. The Kingdom consumes 2.5 billion cubic meters of water annually, half of which (1.1 billion cubic meters) comes from its desalination plants on the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf.
Speaking about privatization, Al-Musallam said his company started the process last year by taking over water and wastewater sectors in Riyadh and Jeddah. "We selected the two cities for privatization considering the intensity and high growth of population," he said.
He said the NWC also took over the water sector in Makkah and Taif this year. "Next year we are planning to cover Madinah, Dammam and Alkhobar and provide our services to 60 percent of the country's total population."
Al-Musallam spoke about substantial improvement in water services in Jeddah. "We'll provide more than 20,000 water and wastewater connections by the end of this year to reach a total of 40,000 by 2012."
© Arab News 2011
