The National Water Company (NWC) is planning to form a specialized company to undertake the sales and marketing of treated wastewater, said Loay A. Al-Musallam, CEO of the company. Al-Musallam said the board of directors at a recent meeting held under the chairmanship of Abdullah Bin Abdulrahman Al-Hussayyen, Minister of Water and Electricity, took the decision for the new company tasked with management, sale and marketing of non-potable treated wastewater for industrial and other commercial use. The step is in line with privatization of management and sale of treated wastewater in more number of cities, he said. He said NWC is currently working on identifying the strategic approaches with the private sector to use the Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) and deliver it to beneficiaries in Riyadh and Jeddah. This step will have a significant impact on water demand management as the TSE is used for other non-potable purposes such as industry, commercial and agriculture uses, he said. The reduced sewage discharge will also help in environment protection besides increasing the company's revenues, he added. He said NWC is looking for agreements with a number of international and national companies that showed interest to invest in the sale of good quality TSE in Riyadh, Jeddah and other cities to be privatized in future. The Board also reviewed NWC strategies to create more investment opportunities to increase its income in future and the overall plan for HR training programs within the company. Al-Musallam said the transfer of responsibilities such as supervision and operation in these cities will serve in excess of 12 million population by NWC with a daily potable water supply of 3.16 million cubic meters in Riyadh, Jeddah and other four cities to be privatized as stated earlier. It is expected that the company will reinforce at least 4,428 employees in the four cities and 6,084 employees in Riyadh and Jeddah who were previously transferred to NWC. The total number of staff at NWC would be over 10,500 employees. Al-Musallam in a press statement said NWC is conducting a study for implementation of water demand management plan in Riyadh and Jeddah during summer season. He said the Board chairman has also approved three consultancy contracts for technical, financial and legal aspects of privatization of water and wastewater sector in Makkah, Taif, Madina and Greater Dammam with national and international companies. “This is in line with NWC's expansion plans which aims for privatizing water and wastewater sector for new cities during the next 18
