Gradiant Corporation, an award-winning innovative water treatment solutions provider, said it has partnered with leading Saudi water supplier Sawaco in a bid to increase the efficiency of its seawater desalination plants.

By extracting fresh water from its brine reject stream, Gradiant’s counter-flow reverse osmosis (CFRO) technology can double the fresh water output of Sawaco’s existing reverse osmosis (RO) desalination operations with no additional seawater intake or pretreatment works, said the US-based company in its statement.

Over 54 per cent of Saudi Arabia’s water is currently derived from desalination plants making it the largest producer of desalination water in the world.

Sawaco, the kingdom’s largest supplier of un-bottled potable water, owns and operates desalination plants which produce over 30,000 cu m per day (cu m/d).

The water produced by Sawaco is essential for domestic consumption, landscaping, irrigation, agriculture and in industries such as oil and gas, petrochemical, and hospitality within Saudi Arabia. 

Due to Saudi Arabia’s arid climate, lack of natural lakes and rivers, and water consumption being one of the highest per capita in the world, nearly double that of Europe, water scarcity is a serious threat to the security and stability of the kingdom, said the Boston-headquartered Gradiant Corporation.

Sawaco, witnessing this challenge, sought to increase water production to meet growing demand, but was unable to do so without significantly increasing the environmental impact and capital expenditure.

Despite the abundance of pretreated brine reject from the RO process, no viable technology that used brine as a resource for fresh water production existed until the introduction of Gradiant’s CFRO, it stated.

Gradiant’s CFRO process is an innovative method designed to address the inherent challenges that limit the water recovery rate of conventional seawater RO, said the statement from Gradiant Corporation.

By manipulating the osmotic pressure gradient across the membrane using a saline (sweep) solution, the CFRO process can further concentrate the brine reject from a conventional RO plant from eight per cent up to the saturation level of salt at 25 per cent.

While concentrating the saline solution, the counter-flow arrangement in the CFRO process simultaneously dilutes the solution, producing highly purified drinking water. It does so at a cost that is comparable to conventional seawater RO.

Sawaco CEO Nizar Kammourie said: “Sustainability is essential for the benefit of the environment and for the long-term profitability of our business. Gradiant’s technology will improve the economics, energy efficiency, and environmental footprint of our operations.”

Gradiant’s CEO and co-founder, Anurag Bajpayee, acknowledges the opportunity this presents for both companies.

“We are excited to work with one of the leading desalination companies in the industry, helping them achieve their goal of doubling their fresh water production capacity. Gradiant’s CFRO technology will make this possible without the expense of new intake, outfall or pretreatment infrastructure,” he added.

Gradiant Corporation and its subsidiaries deliver tailored solutions for industrial water users with the most complex water treatment challenges.

Gradiant, which has its R&D (ressearch and development) headquarters in Singapore, recently launched its Chinese and Indian subsidiary based in Shanghai and Chennai respectively.

NWC STARTS OPERATION OF NEW SAUDI WASTEWATER PLANT

SAUDI ARABIA’S National Water Company (NWC) said it has begun operation of its new wastewater plant in the southern Al Huda district of Jeddah governorate which has been completed at an investment of more than SR72 million ($19 million).

Announcing the launch of operations, NWC Western Sector head engineer Muhammad bin Saleh Al Ghamedi said the company works at an accelerated pace to execute its projects to enhance water and environmental services provided to citizens in the governorate, and to realise the aspirations of the
government.

“Services are currently flowing to our customers in the district. The project was completed five months ahead of the schedule,” noted Al Ghamedi.

The scope of work included laying of 27-km-long main pipeline and sub-networks connected to 1,500 properties, serving more than 25,000 people, he added.

Meanwhile the NWC said it has provided 2,000 domestic wastewater connections in the Twaiq district in capital Riyadh and was racing ahead to complete the rest of the connections.