Published on IDRA Global Connections Summer 2020 Issue

By Mr. Gavin van Tonder

NEOM is a region in northwest Saudi Arabia. On the shores of the Red Sea, it being built from the ground up to serve as a living laboratory to help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Founded on the principles of environmental conservation, NEOM will be an economic engine for the region and the world, providing exceptional livability for its residents and visitors and supporting an ecosystem in which entrepreneurship will be supported by technology to drive thriving businesses.

But in a desert environment, the provision of water is a major challenge. In meeting that challenge, NEOM aims to be a global water reference focused on sustainably improving water performance through the development of a world class infrastructure employing cutting edge innovation and technology.

And in a world first, NEOM will pilot the use of 100% solar energy-powered desalination plants at scale which promise more sustainable practices and no brine discharge. Whichever systems are used to meet water demands, with reuse and recycling protocol at the heart of its water strategy. practice, there will be Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) across all the operations.

Wastewater treatment plants in NEOM will be regarded as water resource recovery factories with every drop of wastewater treated and then recycled. This output will be utilized for landscaping and, under certain circumstances, for local agriculture. Nutrients will be removed from the wastewater and recovered for agricultural and economic purposes.

Under NEOM’s strategy, water will be assessed according to both its quantifiable value and its qualitative worth in order to derive the maximum benefit from the resource. For example, the use of treated water to develop a water way, generate a park for recreation and a habitat for wildlife may be seen as a low value proposition economically and yet, from a holistic  standpoint, it could be considered high worth for the quality of life in the NEOM environment.

Because at least 25% of NEOM’s water demand will come from landscaping and slightly less than that from household consumption, recycled water from the wastewater treatment plants will be insufficient to meet the landscape demands so irrigation will have to be topped up with desalinated, potable water.

For this reason, NEOM does not plan to have a separate grey and black water system as the infrastructural costs of establishing two systems are not warranted. We do not see it from a pure cost perspective, but from a maximizing resource, enhancement of environment and minimization of overall cost with a strong focus on lower operational costs rather than lower capital costs. Whole of life value is brought into play. The requirement to recycle water inside the premises or to capture and utilize rainwater will not be a necessity due to both the large demand requirements for irrigation and the very low rainfall in NEOM.

Flushed water from the potable network will drain into the recycled water system for use in irrigation – thus reducing water losses and safeguarding drinking water quality. Stormwater runoff and flood water will be treated and collected in separate reservoirs for use as irrigation water and, whenever possible, to facilitate groundwater recharge. While seawater will not be used for sanitation or fire services due to the additional infrastructure and treatment costs and our ZLD commitment, it can be used for both district and greenhouse cooling in order to reduce the demand for fresh water. The Fire Services will be supplied with recycled water and backed up from the potable water network. This will reduce losses and water quality issues in the potable water network which has much higher cost water.

Irrigation water will be tailored to fit the needs of specific plants. Some, such as tomatoes, can be irrigated with higher saline water. In addition, the divalent ions taken from the first phase of the desalination process are beneficial to irrigation and can be mixed with desalinated water in order to return some of the beneficial chemicals. As we are writing this though, we would encourage people to share their Innovations and ideas with us. What would you do differently if you were building a region from a scratch and wanted it to be a showcase to what the world should be striving for? NEOM’s desalination process will use high recovery systems allowing more than 60% of the water to be recovered, thereby lowering the seawater intake and, crucially, decreasing the volumes of brine to process. This in turn reduces the overall energy demands of seawater treatment.

Brine processing will then recover a further 20% to 30% of the seawater and convert it to fresh water during crystallization and evaporation processes, thereby ensuring that 90% of the seawater intake is converted to potable water.

Brine processing will also produce chemicals and minerals required in the mineralization of the desalinated water in order to make drinking water of a very high quality. From an industrial wastewater perspective, NEOM will extract high-value chemicals and minerals for reuse and resale, such as the ammonia used to clean electronic wafers. Dedicated extraction techniques and membranes will be utilized such that all of the chemicals and minerals in the water are seen as a resource rather than as effluent. Following the principles of a circular economy, NEOM will end ground water abstraction and restore and recover the aquifers in order that water returns to the surface, thus ensuring that water processing is not only sustainable but also contributes to the environment.

NEOM is focused on the reuse and recycling of water at every step of the process from the moment seawater is collected through to the treatment of wastewater to benefit irrigation, landscaping, industry, domestic use and public water features.

By rethinking our relationship with and use of water, NEOM is demonstrating its role as an accelerator of human progress by reinventing the cycle and demonstrating how the world can move to using this precious resource in an economical and sustainable fashion.

For more information on NEOM, please visit www.NEOM.com.