Tapping the Potential of Wastewater in Saudi Arabia

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Water issues in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Upon joining Kaust in 2012, Hong observed that there were two significant problems in regards to wastewater reuse programs in Saudi Arabia. The first problem being that roughly 50 % of the country is connected to sewage pipelines, with the remaining 50 % reliant on septic tanks or on the direct discharge of partially treated wastewater into the sea or man-made lakes.

The second problem she noticed stems from the potential high diversity of contaminants that are present in sewage as a result of global people movement. In Jeddah, a mere 133 kilometers from her base at Kaust, Hong has the perfect natural laboratory for her research. Annually, millions of religious pilgrims from around the world visit Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj — the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, a pilgrimage that all adult Muslims must undertake out at least once in their lifetimes. With each visit, visitors to Jeddah and the surrounding area add their microbes to the local wastewater stream.

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Many pilgrims come from developing countries where healthcare might be limited and consumption of off-the-shelf antibiotics is rampant. According to Hong, the lack of adequate sewerage connectivity, which is exacerbated by a seasonally transient population, promoted the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant pathogens into the wastewater and environment.

Because of this, her team seeks answers to the following four research questions: are there new or emerging microbial contaminants in wastewaters?; is the existing wastewater treatment process effectively removing emerging microbial pollutants?; are natural, low-cost biocidal strategies suitable for use to tackle emerging microbial contaminants?; and are anaerobic membrane bioreactors (MBR) a safe and sustainable technology to be used in a decentralized manner?

Combating Microbial Contaminants

This year, her research team carried out tests on Jeddah's metropolitan wastewater system. The idea behind the study was to see if the current wastewater processes available in the Kingdom could remove potential harmful pathogens. The researchers also wanted to gain a clearer picture of the persistence levels and survival strategies of these microorganisms when they are subjected to a water purification process.

Hong believes, she now had a clearer idea of what type of emerging microbial contaminants cannot be effectively removed by the existing wastewater treatment technologies. These contaminants remain to be present in the treated wastewater. She said that her team now had a clearer understanding on their fate and persistence, as well as the strategies adopted by these microorganisms to facilitate their survival through the treatment process. With this knowledge, it would be possible to improve the treatment technology or management practices to lower detrimental problems or risks associated with these contaminants during reuse events.

A Vision for Change

Although Saudi Arabia leads the way globally in terms of its desalinated water usage and facilities and is actively sharing its desalination knowledge, techniques and experiences operating big-scale desalination plants with other nations, the water reuse rate in the Kingdom remains low. However, it is anticipated that the rate of water reuse will change in the future. Water reuse is within the country's recent National Transformation Program, Vision 2030. Hong firmly believes that because of the Vision 2030 initiative, various ministries in Saudi Arabia are now currently expanding research and development in regards to the use of treated wastewater with the end goal of increasing the current reuse rate.

Water reuse is specifically stated in Vision 2030 of the country. The intention is to mitigate the depleting groundwater supplies by increasing the reuse rates. With this new drive, it is expected that technology developments related to wastewater treatment and reuse will become a national research priority.

Hong thinks the government ministries in Saudi Arabia recognize the benefits of treated wastewater; for example, how it can (a) improve our water security; (b) decrease our use of non-renewable groundwater supplies and allow sufficient time for it to replenish; and (c) increase our ability to recover valuable resources from wastewater. The scientist is emphatic that she has seen a continued year-on-year improvement in water desalination and water reuse techniques since she first began her research.

In the past, these water reuse techniques were just about recovering clean water for discharge, she noted. Technologies nowadays were not only focussing on recovering clean water, but were also able to maximize recovery of other valuable resources from our wastewater — nutrients and energy, Hong pronounced.

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