Riyadh wastewater treatment plant in operational testing

First phase of Al-Hayer facility to come online in November

Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company (NWC) is carrying out operational testing at the Al-Hayer wastewater treatment plant near Riyadh. The facility is planned to have a total capacity of 400,000 cubic metres a day (cm/d).

Phase one of the plant should come online by 20 November, operating at a capacity of 150,000 cm/d.

The facility, completed by the local Aziz Company in June 2013, will reach full capacity in 2016, when the main trunk sewer is complete.

The first phase of pipe-laying, a distance of 25 kilometres with a capacity of 150,000 cm/d, is currently under use. The second phase of 38 km is 60 per cent complete and will add another 250,000 cm/d capacity.

This is the sixth and largest station in the new Riyadh sewage system, with a cost of SR400m ($106.6m).

NWC is investing heavily in water infrastructure. It has plans to boost water treatment capacity to 6.3 million cm/d, almost three times the capacity in 2012, spending SR89.1bn between 2012 and 2020.

The firm tendered a counsultancy contract in June to advise on its partnerships with the private sector.