How wastewater can help secure the Middle East's water future

For arid nations like Saudi Arabia, harnessing recycled wastewater is not just an environmental imperative, but a strategic necessity for water security. Getty

Amid growing concerns about water scarcity and the urgent need for sustainable solutions, wastewater remains one of the world’s most undervalued and underused resources. Ironically, what is typically seen as a pollutant – rich in chemicals and nutrients that degrade ecosystems – is also a powerful, largely untapped solution.

According to the UN Environment Programme, wastewater holds five times more energy than is needed to treat it and, with the right policies in place, could generate enough power to provide electricity to half a billion people annually.

Wastewater is water that has been used – typically in homes, businesses or industrial processes – and is no longer clean. Globally, 80 per cent of wastewater is discharged into the environment without proper treatment – a stark figure that poses significant risk to human health and fragile ecosystems. But with the right treatment, there is huge potential for safe reuse of recycled water across a spectrum of applications. Fortunately, advances in treatment technologies, paired with mounting water stress, are prompting governments and industries to rethink their water strategies.

Desalination has long been central to Saudi Arabia’s water strategy which can be energy-intensive and expensive

Countries with advanced water treatment infrastructure, such as Singapore, have demonstrated that treated wastewater can be purified to meet – and even exceed – drinking water quality. For arid nations like Saudi Arabia, where water is scarce but demand continues to rise, harnessing recycled wastewater is not just an environmental imperative, but a strategic necessity for water security.

Valued at $323 billion in 2023, the global water and wastewater treatment market is expected to nearly double to $618 billion by 2032, reflecting how countries and corporations are increasingly viewing wastewater as a long-term solution, rather than a waste product.

Saudi Arabia is emerging as a regional leader in this shift. As hosts of the Global Water Expo in Riyadh this week, a key focal point is the kingdom’s National Water Strategy, which aims to ensure sustainable water resources and services, focusing on efficiency, affordability and environmental protection.

Desalination has long been central to Saudi Arabia’s water strategy which, although critical for supplying freshwater, can be energy-intensive and expensive. Recognising the need to diversify its sources, wastewater treatment plays a vital role in the kingdom’s vision to complement desalination and conserve freshwater resources. Nearly 2 billion cubic metres of wastewater was treated in Saudi Arabia in 2022, with 22 per cent reused for agricultural irrigation (up from 16 per cent in 2017). The kingdom aims to reach 25 per cent reuse this year.

To date, Neom has reintroduced 1,100 animals from six species – including Arabian oryx, gazelles and Nubian ibex – and planted more than 4.8 million native trees, shrubs and grasses. Photo: Neom

In line with Neom’s principles, the region’s energy and water subsidiary, Enowa, is committed to redefining conservation by improving water performance sustainably, through a smart and connected infrastructure. Wastewater capture and recycling are integral to our circular water management model and underpin our water infrastructure that is currently under development.

With zero run-off to the environment, our wastewater collection and treatment facilities prioritise and protect fragile land and marine ecosystems. Last year, Enowa treated up to 7 million litres of wastewater every day at our Al Badaa facility, which has more than doubled in capacity since 2023. Aligned with our circular economy principles, all this recycled water is used in the Neom Nature Reserve to support regreening and rewilding initiatives, which aim to enhance biodiversity and restore the delicate ecological balance of the kingdom’s natural environments.

To date, Neom has reintroduced 1,100 animals from six species – including Arabian oryx, gazelles and Nubian ibex – and planted more than 4.8 million native trees, shrubs and grasses. Recycled water also feeds the native plant nursery in the reserve, which is the first renewable-powered plant nursery in the kingdom and has capacity to produce 2 million plants annually. As population and wastewater volumes in Neom ramp up over the coming years, the recycled water supply will also grow to support construction, agriculture and landscape applications, reducing pressure on desalination sources.

As part of our approach where all waste is used as a valuable resource, we are also developing bioresource recovery programmes. Nutrient-rich biosolids, the by-product of wastewater treatment, will be processed into high-quality fertilisers for agricultural use and biogases captured to convert into electricity for energy-neutral water recycling processes.

By turning waste into opportunity, it is possible not only to address one’s own water security, but also set a benchmark for resilient water management in water-scarce regions worldwide. As climate pressures intensify, the time to scale and accelerate these solutions is now – before a sustainable source of clean water, renewable energy and vital nutrients disappears down the drain.