Middle Eastern water industry include desalination, wastewater treatment and digitalization

Only 3% of the water on Earth is pure, and of that, a whopping 65% is either frozen or otherwise unusable. According to the World Wildlife Fund, this has led to a situation in which 1.1 billion people around the globe do not have access to water and another 2.7 billion experience water scarcity for at least one month out of the year.

It also noted that climate change has exacerbated water shortages by creating new problems like droughts, floods, and storms.

It went on to say that desalinization and effluent recycling are becoming increasingly important as a result of the growing water crisis.

According to the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), four key areas need to be addressed to fight the complexity of water related problems, citing the 2019 Water Summit in collaboration with the World Wide Fund (WWF), BCG, Reuters, Ceres, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

These include; creating and enhancing internationally accepted reporting standards for water and sustainability related risks; integrating water and sustainability into the day to day decision making of businesses and other stakeholders; ensuring any business sustainability plan has a full understanding of the value of water; the role of government in developing a strong water governance framework and closing the funding gap to ensure its availability; and the sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030.

According to Frost & Sullivan's study "Growth Opportunities in the Middle East Water Sector," digitalizing assets is another approach to alleviating water scarcity.

Water assets equipped with advanced digital technologies can provide uninterrupted, safe, and cost-effective water supply services by optimising operational performance, and addressing critical issues in the water sector, such as ageing infrastructure, high operating costs, compliance costs, process control, asset quality, and service and plant efficiency.

Utilities are looking into ways to make the water and wastewater sector more sustainable and reduce its carbon impact as governments set net zero goals and implement decarbonization strategies to achieve these.

In order to optimise their systems in real time, utilities, for instance, have increased their investments in cutting-edge data analytics tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) and smart online sensors for asset tracking. According to the study, the primary goals of this funding are to lessen energy use and increase efficiency.

Sustainable desalination, wastewater recovery, and digitalization are three areas where the Middle East's water and wastewater industry is poised for rapid expansion. As part of its efforts to strengthen its capacity to combat water scarcity, the area has begun investigating the advantages of digitalizing its water infrastructure.

Several initiatives, such as the UAE’s Water Security Strategy 2036, which aims to reduce water demand by 21 percent and increase the reuse of treated water by 95 percent by 2036, and the KSA’s Qatrah initiative, which aims to cut daily per-capita water consumption by nearly half, from 263 litres in 2019 to 150 litres by 2030, are expected to accelerate the adoption of digital solutions over the next 10 years.

The World Utilities Congress was organised by dmg events, whose president, Christopher Hudson, said, "The world increasingly needs clean and accessible water as we face the impact of urbanization, population growth, and global warming events."

For the energy industry to become more resilient, efficient, and sustainable, digitalization presents a clear opportunity. He also said, "We look forward to gathering industry leaders at the World Utilities Congress to discuss and plan a successful path ahead for water desalination and water management.

 World Future Energy Summit striking the right chord

Desalination, wastewater treatment, and digitalization have all been identified in a new report commissioned by the World Future Energy Summit, the premier corporate event for future energy and sustainability taking place in Abu Dhabi this month. In addition, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey were named as water sector growth hotspots in a study prepared by business consultancy Frost & Sullivan for the World Future Energy Summit.

The report notes that despite the Middle East and Africa having 48% of the world's desalination capacity, there is still room for development due to the region's struggles with low per capita water availability, increasing water needs, and inadequate groundwater. Reverse osmosis (RO) plants powered by renewables, such as solar, are predicted to replace more energy-intensive thermal desalination methods in the area.

Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) solutions have been recognised as a high potential opportunity in the wastewater sector, as they allow for the recovery of usable water and treated contaminants from wastewater before reducing it to solid waste without any negative environmental effect. In the Middle East, the report predicts that the ZLD market will expand at a CAGR of 8% until 2025, when it will generate up to $100,000,000.00 in revenue.

Opportunity Saudi Arabia

Because of economic diversification, population growth, and urbanization, Saudi Arabia faces a growing water demand, and this study highlights significant opportunities for the private sector. The Kingdom's desalination capacity is expected to grow to 7.5 million cubic metres per day by 2027, from its current capacity of just over 3 million cubic metres per day, thanks to the country's heavy investment in wastewater treatment infrastructure to allow recycling and reuse of water. The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is also funding the construction of 147 sewage treatment facilities and nearly 15,000 kilometres of sewage collection networks.

Optimism in the United Arab Emirates

Furthermore, the United Arab Emirates is positioned for sustained development thanks to an abundance of ongoing and planned water infrastructure projects. The report states that in order to increase treated water reuse to 95%, the government is planning to invest US$ 2.08 billion in the desalination segment.

Advantage for Turkey

Turkey is struggling with water stress as a result of over-abstraction of water resources and inefficient water utilisation across sectors, particularly agriculture. According to the study, increased demand for water and sewage treatment goods and infrastructure is being caused by the country's increasing water scarcity. Predictions indicate that ZLD and RO-based recycling systems will be in high demand to help the nation achieve its development plan goal of increasing wastewater reuse to 5% by the end of 2023.

The report comes ahead of the Water Expo and Forum, one of several specialised on-demand vertical events co-located with the World Future Energy Summit, part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and hosted by Masdar, which will run at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) from January 16-18, 2023.

Through a number of presentations and panel discussions, local, regional, and international experts will address the region's critical water sector challenges and seek to map out the region's route to net zero. A keynote speech by Assistant Undersecretary for Environment and Infrastructure at the UAE Ministry of Environment and Infrastructure, Eng. Yousif Al Ali, will kick off the event.

“All the issues identified in the Frost & Sullivan report will be addressed at the Forum, which is a vital knowledge resource for a sector facing unprecedented pressure,” commented Leen AlSebai, Head of World Future Energy Summit and General Manager of RX Middle East, which organises the world-class event. With only 1.4% of the world's freshwater supplies, the Middle East and North Africa are now the driest regions in the world. However, despite being home to 6.3% of the world's population, the area is experiencing rapid population growth and rising water demand.  There is an urgent need for technologies that can help countries in the area increase their water supply, better control their water demand, and lower their water pressures in the long run. Facilitating public and private sector business partnerships to allow innovation and sustainability in the region's water sector is one of the primary goals of the Water Forum.

As part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, a worldwide forum for promoting green growth, Masdar is hosting the World Future Energy Summit. Moreover, for the first time ever, ENOWA will be collaborating with the event's organisers to host the event.