Saudi Arabia’s Desalination Spend Reaches $25bn

Saudi Arabia has spent SAR95bn ($25bn) on desalination projects to meet its long-term water needs.

Of the investment, SAR65bn ($17bn) was spent on desalination projects implemented by Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) by 2008 and SAR29.5bn ($7.8bn) was spent on the operation and maintenance of the plants.

Saudi Arabia has produced more than 1.103 billion cubic metres of desalinated water through its 30 desalination plants, which are able to meet its water needs for more than 80 years, according to saudigazette.com.

The country has implemented 14 water transfer systems to supply desalinated water through 4,157km pipelines and established 29 stations to pump water to 168 reservoirs with a capacity of up to 9.5 million cubic metres.

The country has budgeted SAR13.4bn ($3.5bn) for 2010, an increase of 44% from last year for desalination projects.