RIYADH, 25 January 2004 — Lack of sufficient expertise in the field of waste water treatment is mainly responsible for the increase in water pollution in the Kingdom.
“The industrial waste water discharge is not handled in accordance with international standards. As a result, the treated effluents that are supposed to have been chemically and biologically made safe for irrigation and other purposes are contaminating the ground water despite all the environmental regulations,” Fawaz Malki, general manager, AES Arabia Ltd., told Arab News.
His statement also finds support in the Kingdom’s report to the UN Conference on the Environment and Development which shows that many of the nation’s environmental problems are associated with urbanization and industrial activity along the coasts. These include worsening air pollution in cities, coastal destabilization, destruction of reefs and mangroves and marine pollution from industrial effluents, urban sewage, and agricultural runoff. Other problems are pollution of ground and surface water by fertilizers and the presence of toxic chemicals and hazardous waste in the Kingdom. The purpose of the study was to draw up policies and future executive plans for management of hazardous toxic materials in the Kingdom.
“AES Arabia, a local affiliate of American Engineering Services, recently rehabilitated one of the waste water treatment plants in Khumra near Jeddah. AES extended the life of the plant by upgrading it on the same footprint. Thanks to our advanced technological solutions, we enhanced the waste water treatment capacity of the plant from 10,000 cubic meters to 40,000 cubic meters while simultaneously bringing the discharge quality of the plant to internationally acceptable standards,” said Malki.
He said regulations in the Kingdom had been introduced sometime ago “and the government seems to be serious in implementing them. However, what seems to be lacking is sufficient expertise and know-how on how to tackle these problems. Industrial waste water treatment is such a technically diversified field that is still the subject of study, even in the most advanced industrial nations. Only seasoned engineers with long experience can come up with cost-effective solutions. Unfortunately, the Kingdom has a serious shortage in such expertise.”
Citing the case of the waste water treatment project for which AES Arabia was chosen by the Saudi-Japanese Textile Company in Hofuf, Malki said if not treated properly, the effluent would have caused impurities to end up in the ground water. The impurities included hazardous material of dyes and other harmful chemicals.
“Users of underground water in the region could have been at risk from contaminated water,” he observed.
He said the government was aware of the problem. “But this awareness has to be backed up by the correct infrastructure including the right expertise, know-how and the presence of experienced companies to provide the solutions. Unfortunately, the situation as it exists leaves much to be desired. As a result, environmental regulations have not been very effective in achieving the desired goal.”
Referring to water treatment in the Kingdom, Malki said there was a bright future for the industry because of the opening up of the water desalination and power generation sector to private enterprise.
He cited the Shuaiba plant, designed to supply 880,000 cubic meters of water and 700MW of electricity daily. The Ministry of Water and Electricity has short-listed 11 companies to carry out the third phase of expansion of the plant located in the south of Jeddah. The cost of the third phase has been estimated at between SR4.5 billion and SR5.6 billion. “This project is being eagerly watched by many investors. If launched successfully, it could pave the way for similar projects in the water desalination and power generation sector,” he pointed out.
He also said there were a large number of old water and waste water treatment projects in the Kingdom that need rehabilitation. “There are systems that normally would need to be phased out as they have outlived their usefulness. AES Arabia has been upgrading and rehabilitating such plants.”
Malki added that AES Arabia had recently won a contract for carrying out the expansion of the Kingdom’s first private sea water desalination plant in Jeddah. The expansion program, due to be completed next month, will enhance the plant capacity of Al-Safya Water Co. (Sawaco) by 3,600 cubic meters a day using state-of-the-art technology.
