Saudi Arabia – From Oil to Water

Okaz, Saudi Arabia, September 14

During the past few months, the world has grown obsessed with the energy crisis and the rapidly rising prices of gas. It seems as if mankind hasn’t experienced a crisis of this magnitude in over 100 years. However, another crisis, which has been looming for quite some time, is being ignored: the water crisis. Climate change, the excessive use of water, and the depletion of natural resources have all contributed to this situation. More than 60 years ago, Prince Mohammed bin Faisal proposed that the Saudi government harvest a mountain of ice and transport it to the coast of Saudi Arabia to solve the dire water crisis. Back then, water desalination plants in the kingdom were few, scarce and very expensive. In addition, they relied on huge amounts of fuel to run, which made them unprofitable to operate. The Saudis continued to search for solutions to address this crisis, in a country where over 80% of the territory consists of arid deserts, with no rivers, springs or lakes. Today, Saudi Arabia is not only a global pioneer in the oil industry, but also a leader in water desalination technologies that help bring down desalination costs while maximizing production. Recall the recent visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to one of the desalination plants on the Red Sea coast. The crown prince visited the plant to congratulate the Water Corporation on its unprecedented achievement of doubling water production while cutting down its overall costs. It is also striking that Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdulaziz, then assistant minister of Defense, said in 2014 that “the conflict over water will be one of the most dangerous wars in the world.” Today, a regional conflict is almost erupting between Ethiopia and Egypt and between Iraq, Syria and Turkey. These are water conflicts between the downstream and upstream countries. The International Desalination Future Conference, recently held in Riyadh, aimed to bring to the fore innovative water management solutions and establish a leadership role for Saudi Arabia in the water desalination industry. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the water desalination industry is the need to reduce the carbon emissions resulting from desalination activity. The rapid growth of the desalination industry in Saudi Arabia signals the kingdom’s transformation into a solid scientific and knowledge powerhouse. As Saudi technologies continue to evolve, the kingdom will become an exporter of water to other nations, making it a producer of two of the most important resources in the world: oil and water. – Mohammed Al-Saed (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)