Saudi Arabia is attempting to achieve the 100 percent treatment of household wastewater, said Dr. Muhammed I. Al-Saoud, Deputy Minister of Planning and Development in the Ministry of Water and Electricity. Dr. Al-Saoud was speaking to Saudi Gazette after opening a two-day Saudi-Japanese Sewage Water Treatment seminar in Riyadh, Tuesday. “Our target is to reach 100 percent wastewater treatment in Saudi Arabia,” he said, adding that the present level of wastewater treatment amounts to 1 billion cubic meters per year. He said the amount of residential wastewater was around two billion cubic meters per year “and the initial target is to achieve the treatment of around 1.7 billion cubic meters.” Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a cooperation program in the field with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a Japanese government entity, he said. Under the cooperation program, two batches of 27 Saudi engineers have so far been trained in two tailor-made programs designed for Saudi Arabia. The training programs included Operation and Maintenance, and Designing of Sewage Water Treatment Plants, “both of which were very successful,” he said. Dr. Al-Saoud said the treated water was used for either industrial or irrigation purposes. Asked if his ministry also sought JICA's assistance for resolving Jeddah's sewage problem, the deputy minister said the National Water Company has been entrusted to look after the city's sewage water problem. A seven-member Japanese technical team headed by Naoki Mori arrived to attend the seminar in Riyadh. Mori said during the two-day sewage water treatment seminar that Saudi and Japanese experts discussed the efficient utilization of wastewater.
