Why should we resort to water treatment?

Not long ago, we had to resort to water treatment, because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, like other countries, suffers from scarcity and scarcity of potable water.

There are many sources from which water can be obtained, the most important of which are surface water and groundwater, which constitute the most important source of fresh water. There are also many new sources that aim to collect rainwater in dams, recycle it, and desalinate surface water such as seawater and salty rivers that are not suitable for drinking, and use them in many other sectors.

The most important water sources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is a desert country with little rain, rivers, and lakes. The rapid growth of the country and the increasing demand for water is a major problem. Water is secured for human society from two main sources:

• Surface water
• Underground water

Aquifers are one of the most important sources of fresh drinking water. The government made great efforts to locate aquifers, map them and estimate their capacity. The government has also drilled tens of thousands of wells.

Saudi Arabia also relies on surface water on the earth’s surface, such as seawater and the dam. Some of them may need to be desalinated or recycled for use in many fields such as drinking, agriculture, and industry.

At Carewater, we provide a full range of services in everything related to water treatment.

Seawater desalination

Salty water in Saudi Arabia constitutes a large percentage of the many water bodies surrounding it. Desalinated water represents 50% of the water consumed in Saudi Arabia.

Therefore, Saudi Arabia resorted to desalination in many sectors, such as drinking and agriculture. Desalinated water can be defined as water extracted from seawater desalination plants, where salts are removed from it to make it usable and drinkable.

Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the world in seawater desalination and utilization. This process may not be economically feasible, as it is costly and requires a lot of energy and money. The Saline Water Conversion Corporation operates 27 desalination plants to produce more than three million cubic meters of potable water per day, which constitutes 60 percent of the water used in cities.

Agricultural terraces

The agricultural terraces system was developed to take advantage of the rainwater falling in the dry areas with little water. The agricultural terraces are known as stair farming. Trees and crops are planted on the steep slopes to conserve water and keep the soil from eroding. Where the terraces are based on collecting water behind them, which is reflected in the fertility of the soil, making it suitable for cultivation.

Surface water

Surface water includes fresh water in streams and rivers and salty water in seas and oceans. It accounts for 71% of the Earth’s surface. Surface water mainly contributes to the water cycle in nature. Where the water evaporates when exposed to sunlight and then falls to return to the ground, and part of it is deposited to supply groundwater, which is extracted to benefit from it.

Surface water includes man-made dams where rainwater running off the surface of the earth is collected. Surface water is highly relied upon for its ease of access and is used in many sectors such as drinking, irrigation of crops, and industry.

Underground water

Given the geological history of Saudi Arabia, large groundwater resources were formed hundreds of thousands of years ago.

A thick chain of sedimentary aquifers covering the entire eastern part of the Kingdom (the Arab continental shelf) stores ample “non-renewable” fossil groundwater resources.

Groundwater is an important source of freshwater that is used in many sectors, the most important of which are drinking, agriculture, and crop irrigation. It constitutes 40% of the water resources in Saudi Arabia.

Water is stored inside the earth, in the spaces between sand, dirt, and rock crumbs. Many systems and technologies have been developed that determine the groundwater conditions for pumping and extraction for use in many sectors such as drinking, agriculture, and industry.

The part of the water resources that are within the reach of the current extraction technology and that is not brackish or saline is known as “exploitable groundwater resources.”

The part of these water resources available through modern extraction techniques that is not salty is known as “exploitable groundwater resources”.

Wastewater desalination

The world’s need for clean water is increasing due to the large population growth, climate change, the increase in industries, and the deterioration of the water situation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It may have to desalinate sewage and use it in many sectors such as industry and agriculture. Saudi Arabia has the largest wastewater treatment site which is located in the southern part of the city of Jeddah in the industrial area of Al-Khumrah district. The treatment process consists of four phases and has a capacity of approximately 250,000 m3/day.

The treatment process consists of several stages, starting with the sifting of water from solid and large materials. And then put them in chambers to remove the air particles and then aerate the water. This is followed by a sedimentation process, where the solid particles settle down. Chlorine is then added to kill bacteria and germs. Then the sludge is dehydrated by belt filter presses.

You can request a quote and discuss all your choices with our Carewater experts.

Resorting to the treatment of water resulting from sewage and its many great uses:

• Cooling
• Construction, mining, and industry
• Agriculture
• Irrigation and landscape engineering

The agricultural sector is the primary consumer of treated wastewater with 400,000 cubic meters per day. This is followed by municipalities with an amount of 130,000 cubic meters per day, then factories with an amount of 70,000 cubic meters per day.

Dams

Dams are one of the most important sources of water. They were built to collect surface water running on the surface of the earth after rains and floods. There are about 200 dams in Saudi Arabia and more than 16 billion cubic feet of runoff surface water annually is collected in the reservoirs.

Examples of dams are Wadi Bisha, Najran, Wadi Jizan, and Wadi Fatima. This water is used for many purposes primarily agriculture where the water is distributed through canals over long distances and used to irrigate crops.