Water from the sea to conquer the desert: desalination plant in Al Jubail

The future desalination plant in Al Jubail, a city located in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, will ensure the city's development by doubling the capacity of the area's five existing desal facilities.

Saudi Arabia's Marafiq Power & Water Utility Company for Jubail & Yanbu, has awarded ACCIONA Agua - in consortium with the Saudi group, Bin Laden, considered one of the world's biggest construction companies - the Build, Design and Commission contract of a seawater desalination plant at Al Jubail, in Eastern Province. The plant will serve both the city of Al Jubail and its associated industrial complex on the Persian Gulf coast. It is the first contract ACCIONA Agua has obtained in Saudi Arabia. Construction is to begin in the weeks to come and the plant is to begin operating at the end of 2014.

Capacity will be 100,000m3 per day, double the combined output from five other desalination plants already operating there. Al Jubail, an industrial city, already has two MSF (Multistage Flash Desalination) and three reverse osmosis plants operating, with a combined capacity of 84,000m3 per day. The MSF facilities use water from the Arabian Sea for desalination and drinking water production, whereas the reverse osmosis plants source from 12 wells in the Al Jubail area. Together the plants are to supply a strong and growing demand for water in the province.