Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
6.1 EDUCATION & RESEARCH
Innovative wastewater treatment technologies
Saudi Arabia ’ s climate is extreme , and requires it to maximize and reuse its most precious resource – water ( including wastewater ). Increasing the use of treated wastewater reduces the need for desalinated water , which is costly to produce and very energy intensive , leading to higher CO2 emissions . KAUST researchers from the Water Desalination and Reuse Center ( WDRC ) have developed
an innovative wastewater treatment method that uses less energy and renders water safe to use for agriculture . The technology was piloted in early 2022 with KAUST ’ s industry partner MODON ( Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones ) in Jeddah .
KAUST-developed anaerobic membrane bioreactor ( AnMBR ) technology
Off-grid desalination made smarter
Back in 2019 , KAUST researchers from the WDRC realized that waste solar-cell heat could be used for water purification . They developed a device that can be coupled to photovoltaic panels and draws seawater into a series of layered channels , resulting in the production of freshwater at 1.6 L / h . Following up on that study over 2021 , the team
developed a theoretical model that ended up boosting the efficiency of a device , resulting in an electricity generation increase of 8 % while also doubling the previous rate of freshwater generation .
Partnering with the government to advance water security efforts
On October 2021 ,
KAUST hosted a workshop on campus for the Ministry of Environment , Water and Agriculture ( MEWA ), with the main goal to undertake a strategic partnership focusing on water research . The two day workshop covered topics on reservoir operations , water challenges faced in the Kingdom , water use estimation methodology , and discussions on future technology transfer and training opportunities . KAUST faculty and students from the WDRC presented topics on groundwater abstraction , objectbased image analysis ( OBIA ), crop classification mapping , and introduction to a new cloud-based project . The workshop solidified KAUST ’ s role as a scientific partner to the Saudi government ’ s ambition to reach water security , in line with Vision 2030 .
MEWA – KAUST Workshop
6.2 OPERATIONS
On campus efforts to save water
KAUST produces all of its
potable water from desalination , and ensures all wastewater is collected for treatment and reuse , completing a full water cycle in an effort towards resource circularity . Starting from 2015 , the Facilities Management ( FM ) teams have been implementing several actions every year to reduce the campus water consumption such as replacing fixtures with water-saving devices , equipping all faucets with touchless automatic motion sensors , and installing displacement tanks on toilets .
One of the biggest water-saving efforts is related to landscaping optimization . As irrigation is one of the biggest consumers of water at KAUST , the FM teams revised the landscape of KAUST in terms of functionality and visibility and converted more than 100 sites to xeriscaping themes . The ongoing project , implemented
16 | KAUST SDG HIGHLIGHT REPORT