The Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Industrial Water Treatment Project in the Central Region (COA) is a strategic infrastructure initiative executed under a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) framework. Designed for the Saudi Energy Company, this facility is engineered to process complex industrial wastewater from power generation operations, maximizing high-purity water recovery while completely eliminating liquid effluent discharge.
Scope and Execution
Under the BOO model, the project encompasses the complete lifecycle of the water treatment infrastructure, transferring the operational risk and upfront capital requirements away from the client:
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Design & Build: Engineering and installing customized, heavy-duty treatment skids tailored to the specific chemical profile of the power plant's industrial runoff.
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Asset Ownership: Total capital deployment, asset management, and technology integration by AQUATREAT.
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Long-Term Operation: Day-to-day facility management, preventative maintenance—including automated Clean-In-Place (CIP) protocols—and continuous monitoring to guarantee uninterrupted water supply and strict environmental compliance.
Technical Architecture
Achieving true Zero Liquid Discharge requires a robust, multi-stage treatment train designed to handle high-concentration brine and challenging scaling factors:
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Primary Filtration: Advanced pretreatment utilizing Nano-technology, Oil removal, Multimedia Filters (MMF), and UF to remove algae, suspended solids, turbidity, and organics.
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Membrane Recovery: High-efficiency and unique multiple Reverse Osmosis BWRO+UHPBWRO+SWRO to extract maximum volumes of raw water for direct reuse in plant operations.
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Brine Concentration & Thermal Treatment: Channelling the highly concentrated RO reject into advanced brine concentrators, crystallizers, or engineered evaporation systems to reduce the final byproduct to dry, safely disposable solid salts.
Strategic & Environmental Impact
This ZLD facility aligns directly with the stringent environmental standards set by the Department of Environment Performance & Sustainability. By recycling the vast majority of its wastewater, the power plant significantly reduces its reliance on raw water makeup, creating a sustainable, closed-loop water cycle that supports uninterrupted energy production for the Central Region.