SAUDI Arabia is continuously developing technology for the provision of fresh clean water and the treatment of waste water, said Nizar Kammourie, the chief executive officer and member of the board of directors of Suido Kiko Middle East, which is providing solutions for the sector. “I think the government and its agencies, including the Ministry of Water and Electricity and the National Water Company (NWC), are making huge efforts to build waste water plants. In Jeddah, for instance, the NWC is going ahead with a large 250,000 cubic meter water treatment plant at the airport and there is also another plan for further capacity which the government and NWC are implementing to solve the problem of sewage for Jeddah. What we believe is that people will see a definite solution and difference within two to three years for sewage problems once the airport plant comes on stream,” said Kammourie in an interview with Saudi Gazette. Suido Kiko Middle East is an engineering and construction company based in Jeddah that specializes in providing solutions in the water and waste water sectors. The company is a joint venture between Saudi Brothers Commercial Company Group (SBCC) and Suido Kiko Kaisha of Japan. It has SBCC's water experience in Saudi Arabia and Suido Kiko's water treatment technology. The company is working with NWC, municipalities, the Ministry of Water and Electricity and the industrial sector to produce solutions for waste water issues. Suido Kiko Middle East focuses on both desalination and waste water treatment and recycling of treated water in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf. Technology pioneers They are pioneers in the Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology for treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater for discharge and reuse applications. Kammourie explained that Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Middle East and it has the highest growth of population and infrastructure. “Our company can play an interesting role in providing well-engineered solutions in the water and waste water sector.” “We are judged by the quality and performance of our systems so we have to ensure that we perform according to the highest possible standards. Our aim is to spread awareness in both the public and private sectors that waste water is a resource and treatment plants are in fact recovery plants that provide a new source of water which can be used in several ways along with other recovered elements.” “The main purpose of our company is to reuse the recycled water in industrial application such as cooling, construction, cleaning and irrigation. There are a lot of applications for this water, we found that the main waste water treatment industry was not serving the country so there was an opportunity in providing a recycle solution where you treat the waste water and get water which is called reuse water,” he said. Major projects The first major project was established to design and build a 60,000 cubic meter plant near Misk Lake to drain the lake and receive and treat waste coming from sewage tankers. “We have treated above 4.0 million cubic meters of water from the lake and sent the treated water for the irrigation to the municipality's eastern forest and wetlands in the Briman area,” he said. They also succeeded with the private sector to provide total recycling solution for industries, which no other company, either local or international, managed to propose and execute. Their compact plants are at schools, compounds, training centers, remote villages and communities, prisons and military camps all over the Kingdom. “The other issue was industrial waste water which can be reused to a large degree and reduce the environmental impact. Of course we don't advocate using the water for food products but they can reuse it for irrigation, flushing toilets, cooling towers, construction and industrial processes where the demand is huge,” he explained. “This way we are reducing the pressure on municipal water facilities which are mostly coming from the desalination plants.” He said that this new technology is environmentally-friendly, economical and also improves the quality of life in Jeddah, where the main problem is sewage. “I think we have the solution and we started implementing it. Our company is working on a strategic plant in southern Jeddah Al-Khumra where we treat both industrial and municipal waste water and produce water that is safe for disposal and reuse. This project is almost complete and is in the handing-over stage. It will be a great addition for Jeddah,” he said. Kammourie said it will be the first time Jeddah has a plant of this size dedicated to industrial waste water. Flood solutions Kammourie said that there are time-tested solutions for rain water which has become a big problem for the residents of Jeddah. “The only solution for the rain water is to design and build a storm drain network along with inlets in all the streets and major outfalls discharging either to the sea or to treatment plants where the rain water can be treated for multiple usage. This is a long term solution where the totality of the city streets need to be excavated and a new storm drain pipeline network laid down,” he said. “We have the capability to treat rain water to become potable and that's what is done all over the world. This is nothing new but in order to do this we need to collect rain water through an extensive network which requires a heavy investment. Such a network takes at least five to seven years to design and implement in a city like Jeddah,” he said. He explained that historically, many engineering companies in the past advised Jeddah's leaders not to build the rain water network because the cost of investment was not feasible with the short time rain. But with climate change, every year Jeddah is witnessing a constant increase in the number and intensity of rainy days. The cost of these storms is much higher than the investment. “So nowadays I think it makes sense to think about investing in a comprehensive storm water network for Jeddah despite the inconvenience and cost to the city. Unfortunately there is no quick fix solution to the rain water issue. This matter cannot be solved totally in the very immediate future,” he added. He said the company has undertaken various projects in the Kingdom. “Our parents company, SBCC, is renowned for establishing the SAWACO-Water Desalination Company, which runs the first private water utility licensed by the Ministry of Water in Saudi Arabia. SAWACO owns, operates and maintains several desalination plants in the Kingdom, including the well-known 14,000 cubic meter a day North Obhor Desalination Plant,” he said. Training and jobs Suido Kiko also provides regular training for their engineers as a number of Saudi engineers are working for the company. Kammourie said they also welcome Saudi women engineers in the company if they are ready to do the work with them on sites where it can be rough. Saudi women can join the company within the acceptable legal framework of the company laws in Saudi Arabia. “If we are allowed to employ Saudi ladies we will be more than happy to take serious and talented people in our company. Our Japanese engineers are giving regular training to our new engineers. Our young engineer's age are between 22 and 25 years of age and manage some projects on their own because of the training provided to them. You don't need 10 years of experience to handle a project,” he added.
