JEDDAH: The Shuaiba Barge Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant, which is a distinct desalination project and one of Saudi Arabia's largest reverse osmosis (RO) seawater desalination plants and the world's largest sea-based desalination plant, is one of Jeddah's major emergency sources of water. The plant consists of two barges, each with a capacity of 26,000 cubic meters per day. The first barge has been in operation since May 2008, feeding potable quality water into the distribution net of Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) for Makkah and Jeddah. The second barge became operational earlier this week.
Raw water is taken from a shallow region of the Red Sea. It is pre-treated by ultrafiltration (UF) prior to feeding the two-pass RO system, Dr. Andreas Gorenflow, sales manager of Dow Water Solutions Middle East, told Arab News during the two-day Saudi Water & Power Forum, which culminated in a visit to the Shuaiba plant by the forum delegates yesterday.
Dow Water Solutions Technology is at work at the plant. "We have supplied membranes to it," Gorenflo said. "In fact, our products and technologies have been an integral part of the success stories of some of the largest seawater desalination across the globe," he said, adding that Dow's advanced technology has made seawater desalination a drought-proof water resource for coastal regions. Its membrane technology is a key component of the seawater desalination plant in Perth, Australia. Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant in Florida is the largest one in the United States that produces 25 million gallons of water per day with the help of 9.408 FILMTEC RO membranes. In Beijing, Dow's FILMTEC membranes were installed at three wastewater reclamation and reuse facilities in conjunction with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. These facilities supported government commitments to reach a wastewater reuse rate of 50 percent during the Olympic Games, compared with the current 15 percent rate, he said.
Dow Water Solutions, a business unit of the Dow Chemical Company and global leader in water purification, seawater desalination, contamination removal and water reuse solutions, was one of the exhibitors at the forum. It showcased new developments in water technology including its ultrafiltration that offers meaningful protection to the water treatment processes.
It is present in the Kingdom through several joint ventures including a recent agreement with Saudi Aramco for the establishment of a joint venture.
By K.S. Ramkumar
© Arab News 2008
