Saudi Brothers: Ensuring sustainable water solutions

Jeddah: P.K. Abdul Ghafour | Arab News Staff

For Saudi Brothers Commercial Group and its CEO Sheikh Fahd Al-Nowaiser, water desalination and purification industry is not only an important business but also a vital service to the nation, supplying potable water to its growing population.
The group has established three subsidiaries with operations across the Kingdom to ensure sustainable water supply. It has been introducing modern technology and advanced systems to service the water industry in the Kingdom.
“The water requirement of Ƶ is huge and beyond the capacity of a single operator,” said Nizar Kammourie, director of business development at the company, general manager of Sawaco Water Desalination, CEO of Suido Kiko Middle East, and managing director of Chemsbro.
He also estimated the Kingdom’s water desalination and purification market at SR70 billion over the next 5 years.
“We at Sawaco and Suido Kiko do our best to ensure sustainable supply of water, produce water from non-classical resources for industrial and irrigation purposes and reduce the cost of producing water,” Kammourie told Arab News.
He described Ƶ as one of the best places in the world for investment in the water sector.
“There are lots of investment opportunities for foreigners. However, they have to be very knowledgeable about the market and they should have enough resources to proceed. This market is for strong and stable companies that can absorb and excel in the labor conditions here.”
Kammourie said his company was successful in meeting the country’s Saudization conditions by employing a large number of Saudis in important positions.
“We have Saudi engineers, managers, technical workers and foremen. We also provide on-the-job training to Saudi graduates. We are looking for the best talent we can depend on to fortify our divisions and make them sustainable,” he added.
Asked about the impact of falling oil prices on businesses in the Kingdom, the CEO said the government has announced a promising budget for 2015, projecting spending at SR860 billion, which would definitely drive growth.
“This ambitious budget gives us a feeling that we are in safe hands. But if oil prices go down to $30 or $25 per barrel, it would be hard to predict the consequences on the water sector ”
Kammourie stated that Saudi Brothers Group is committed to expand the water division scope and offerings.
This is classified as socially responsible investment since it touches on many vital aspects of everyday lives of citizens in the country.
“Our Group CEO Sheikh Fahd Al-Nowaiser is very much supportive of the group’s water initiative. You will hear soon more about our expansion projects in the sector,” he added.
He emphasized the need to introduce solutions that minimize the use of water in agriculture, which consume about 70 percent of water. One of the solutions for instance is air injector designed in California to supply a combination of air and water at the roots of plants. This would reduce water consumption by plants by 80 percent, he added.
Speaking about methods to reduce pressure on the country’s water network and desalination plants, he said Acquifer Recharge and Acquifer Storage and Recovery systems would ensure protection of underground water resources and help convert waste water into usable water.
“On the longer term we have to invest more in renewable energy to reduce carbon footprint during production of water. This requires massive investment and government regulatory framework,” he said, while stressing the need to adopt technologies that reduce power consumption and cut cost.
Kammourie said his company was seeking to introduce more efficient systems.
“Our Japanese partner Suido Kiko always provides us with new and improved technology and new ways of processing waste water. We also introduce more efficient pumps that reduce cost of energy. Suido Kiko provides us with value-added engineering products,” he explained.
Elaborating on Sawaco’s operations, he said it is the first private utility company established in 1999 and supplies 30,000 cubic meters of water. It has three desalination plants in the north, south and central Jeddah to meet the needs of commercial, industrial and residential sectors in the city.
It is a bulk water supplier of choice for businesses and industries.
“Sawaco is expanding its operations in Jeddah and branching out to other regions,” he said.
It has operations in Najran and Jazan.
“We have a contract with Saudi Aramco to meet water requirements of its installations in the Western region from Tabuk to Najran. We also undertake maintenance of third party desalination plants.”
Suido Kiko Middle East was established in 2006 as a joint venture between the Saudi Brothers and the Suido Kiko -Toray Group of Japan.
It is an engineering, procurement and construction company that deals with water and wastewater. Suido Kiko Middle East has operations all over the Kingdom with focus on government sector projects.
“We have introduced MBR system to the government sector. Currently we have over 20 projects in Najran, Jazan, Jeddah, Riyadh and Tabuk. We do industrial and municipal wastewater treatment, brackish and sea water desalination.”
Speaking about another subsidiary, Chemsbro, Kammourie said it provides chemicals and services required by the water and wastewater industry and advisory to membrane-based desalination plants. Established in 2005, Chemsbro has many projects with distinguished customers.
The company’s main customers are the Water and Electricity Ministry, its branch offices in different regions, National Water Company and the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (Modon).
“We provide water and waste water facilities for industrial cities,” he said.
Kammourie described private desalination in the Kingdom as a competitive and promising market. Sawaco has over 8,000 customers.
“Apart from residential customers we have oil & gas, FMCGs, Refineries, hotels and hospitals, resorts and factories,” he said, adding that Sawaco is capable of meeting specific needs of customers by customizing water characteristics.
“Sawaco is planning to expand its production this year by about 6,500 cubic meters in Jeddah alone and we are upbeat about our future. We control about 45 percent of the private in the Western region. We have a plan to use solar energy to produce water in remote areas,” he said.