Desert challenge

In the GCC, treated wastewater is mainly used for landscaping or for fountain displays.

In a region in which water seems scarcer than oil, state-owned utilities have a job at hand to keep the taps running. With precious little drinkable groundwater available, the region is currently producing an average of 30 million cubic metres of desalinated water every day. And due to unabated population and industrial growth, there is little indication that demand will go anywhere but up.

Water reuse is primarily used for landscaping and agriculture irrigation, district cooling, and industrial and municipal uses. It is only natural that more thought is now given to increase this usage. “The GCC market for water reuse is on the verge of major expansion,” says Walid Fayad, partner at Booz & Co. “Capital expenditure on advanced water reuse is expected to increase the capacity by more than 13 percent per year in the coming five years.”

Saudi Arabia alone is expected to become the third largest water reuse market in the world after the United States and China, estimates the Sustainable Water Alliance. Currently, the Kingdom reuses only about 22 percent of its wastewater, if the reuse of low quality treated sewage effluent is excluded.

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Booz & Co. estimate that between 2010 and 2016, GCC countries will spend around US$60 billion on expanding wastewater collection and treatment capacity. While reuse capacity will expand by 13 percent per year, contracted desalination capacity will grow by only four percent.

“Reused water is expected to play a growing role in curbing supply levels from non-renewable groundwater,” says Nadim Batri, principal at Booz & Co.

This makes sense, as treated sewage effluent (TSE), the product of wastewater treatment, is much cheaper than desalination. At present, around 2 million cubic meters of treated water is used in the GCC every day, according to Booz & Co, a fraction of the amount of water that is desalinated on a daily basis.

While costs vary according to quality and transportation expenditure, Booz & Co estimate that a cubic metre of treated effluent costs $0.66 in Kuwait, while a cubic meter of desalinated water costs an estimated $2.27.

“Swapping the energy intensive desalination of sea water via reverse osmosis (RO), and replacing it with upgraded TSE would have a more positive, profound and lasting impact on resource conservation,” says Mohamed Hijaz, general manager at Eagle Electromechanical & Al Hijaz Mechanical Equipment.

The financial case for investing in wastewater treatment plants is a strong one, as is the case for immediate action.

While the economics are favourable, procrastination will erode the financial health of the water sector, says Fayad: “The supply-demand gap will widen driven by a fast growing water demand and depleting renewable water resources while increasing capital investment requirements will further deteriorate the financial viability of the sector.”