JEDDAH, 6 October 2006 — Kindasa Water Services, the first private saudi company specializing in the distribution of desalinated sea water to industries, residential compounds and government institutions has announced its completion of its second round of expansions in its Phase B project.
The expected total capacity of the plant will be between 40,000-48,000 cubic meters per day making Kindasa the largest private feeder of desalinated water in Saudi Arabia.
Currently Kindasa’s major market includes Jeddah’s Industrial City, home to companies such as Aramco, Napco, and future site of King Abdullah Economic City.
“Our main objective at the present is to build and supply pipeline enabling desalinized water to be pumped directly from our factory at the Jeddah Islamic Port to the doors of companies located in the Industrial City,” Fawzi Habhab, general manager of Kindasa told Arab News. In light of Jeddah’s water crisis Habhab said that the new project would help ease pressure on the city water system as a result of reduced industrial demands. He also said that other projects were under negotiation for completion by the end of 2007.
According to 2005-2015 forecasts, the desalination market expenditure in the region is estimated to rise to as much as $95 billion, of which $48 billion will be derived from new capital investments. Other data concludes that the largest growth market will continue to be in the Gulf region as a result of a combination of rapidly growing population and depleted ground water sources that will require a near doubling of the total capital estimation.
To date, Kindasa has spent an estimated SR250 million ($66.6 million) on the new projects and has been a 24/7 operation since its establishment in January 2000. A liability company, Kindasa is a result of a cooperative alliance between Saudi Industrial Services Company (SISCO), Mohammed Abdu Latif Jameel Group, and Bushnak Group responsible for designing, supervising, commissioning and erecting the new desalination plant.
Kindasa’s success is due to its comprehensive operational program deemed the reverse-osmosis system, which is a cost-effective technology used in removing salt and impurities resulting in pure desalinated water. A seawater reverse-osmosis plant with the capacity of producing 14,000 cubic meters per day was first constructed at Jeddah’s seaport. The plant was later expanded to increase production to 40,000 cubic meters per day in late 2005.
The company also constructed a distribution and tanker filling station inside the port located at Gate 4 responsible for supplying potable water to consumers at the industrial zone and residential complexes in Jeddah.