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Majeb Al Odayani On Leading The Kingdom To Sustainable Water Security | |
| Staff Writer |
Saudi-based AlOdayani is raring to help the kingdom solve its water needs sustainably. The Board Member speaks to T2NZ about how ICDOC is generating and distributing sweet water for the needs of the industries within the Kingdom, particularly within the industrial cities as well as about some initiatives that could take the water industry much further along the Net Zero agenda.
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Q: Using sustainability as a cornerstone, how does ICDOC generate water for industrial cities?
A: To achieve sustainable water supplies ICDOC adopted the optimal approach toward freshwater (sweet water) production; wastewater collection, treatment, and distribution. This approach has resulted in a very low-cost base coupled with minimal energy consumption, and with minimal impacts on environmental resources.
The lowered costs allow ICDOC to offer suitably low water supply tariffs to the industrial plants in the industrial cities. Further, this approach is tailored to achieve UN Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) and the Saudi 2030 Vision.
Q: How does the sustainability and carbon neutrality initiative fit into your day-to-day operations and how are these rooted in your company operations?
A: The company has adopted the most advanced technology in wastewater treatment and reuse known internationally as the ‘Close Water Cycle’ Approach where all produced industrial wastewater from industrial plants is collected, treated to advanced levels, and distributed for reuse in industrial plants; then the produced wastewater is collected, treated, and reused again in a close loop.
With this approach, the need for freshwater production from desalination plants is minimized because nearly all produced wastewater is treated and reused in repeated loops. This results in minimizing the need for costly water desalination which requires high energy consumption coupled with high carbon production.
Q: Recently you were promoted to a Board Member at ICDOC. How do you plan to take the company forward over the next ten years?
A: I will put forward ambitious and modern ideas and plans that will lead to more effective and sustainable operational and maintenance processes in water and wastewater systems that will ultimately lower the costs as well as the carbon footprint. I will also put more aggressive programs for capacity building for the human resources to enable them to operate and deal with smart water and wastewater systems.
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Q: Please tell us what you feel would be the one positive change that could be implemented at an industry level to raise the global standard on sustainability and carbon neutrality, taking the industry to the next level?
A: I feel strongly that this would be the one positive change that could be implemented at an industry level should be to adopt an aggressive approach toward digital transformation and artificial intelligence in our water and wastewater systems.
This will transform our present systems into totally smart sustainable systems that will increase the efficiency of operation and maintenance processes and will lower the associated costs significantly, in addition to cutting down significant carbon production. This will lead to achieving SDGs and the Saudi 2030 vision.
Q: Please also tell us about any three initiatives that you feel could increase sustainable water development in the region?
A: The three key initiatives, according to me are:
1- Utilisation of advanced tools of integrated water resources management coupled with the use of digital transformation and artificial intelligence means on national levels for water strategy development and execution with consideration to socio-economic sustainability.
2- More dependent on non-conventional water resources such as treated wastewater, agricultural drainage water, and rainwater harvesting for satisfying the growing water shortages for different water demands.
3- Consideration of water, food and energy nexus under changing climate in achieving sustainable water, food and energy security.
Q: What does it mean to you to see ICDOC on the regional/ GCC stage in the context of a commitment to sustainability?
A: ICDOC is a successful model for industrial wastewater treatment and reuse, water and energy conservation and carbon emission reduction in Saudi Arabia and in GCC countries. This model can be executed in other GCC and Arab countries to achieve sustainable water, food, and energy security under changing climate.
Q: Although the importance is deep-rooted in Arab culture, how did you develop an interest in the water industry and the sustainable water industry?
A: I was born and grew up in a scarce water country over its vast desert lands with low annual precipitation in most of its lands, and without rivers or lakes. The most noticeable challenge in our local community has been to obtain our daily clean sweet water.
That goal was always difficult to find in the old days and has been the main challenge for the government of Saudi Arabia. This has created ambition and interest in myself when I was a child to go for higher education to help my local community and my country to overcome the problem of water scarcity and to have enough fresh and clean water supplies at all times to support the national development of my country in all sectors and to have water, food and energy security.
Q: Please tell us about your favourite city and a book of all time and why?
A: Favorite city is: Riyadh city, where Saudi’s past and future meet, and my favorite book is the Holy Quran, a source of knowledge and the most sacred text of Allah