Black & Veatch, a leading player in the infrastructure sector, said it has won a contract from Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) for a major desalination project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The company has been roped in by SWCC as engineering and design consultant for the Jeddah 4 project, which will enhance water resources for the city’s five million people by creating a 400-megalitres-per-day (mld) reverse osmosis (RO) plant.

Black & Veatch pointed out that Saudi Arabia is the world’s biggest producer of desalinated water and when completed, Jeddah 4 would be among the kingdom’s largest desalination plants.

The Jeddah 4 scheme, which will be tendered on an engineering, procurement, construction (EPC) basis, will augment dramatically the water supply in Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, it added.

As per the contract, Black & Veatch will be responsible for studies of site and adjacent sea conditions, conceptual process and engineering design, and preparation of tender documents. In addition, it will also support SWCC during the tendering and award of the EPC contract.

Mazen Alami, the managing director, Middle East at Black & Veatch, said: "An augmented water supply is central to the prosperity and continued development of Jeddah. SWCC, through critical infrastructure projects such as Jeddah 4, has proved highly effective in addressing the kingdom’s water requirements."

Black & Veatch has been involved in more than 40 desalination plants with a combined throughput of nearly 5,788 mld.

“It is a recognised leader in the best practices and technologies shaping the water industry; our desalination expertise extends across the entire value chain. Our experience with large-scale desalination projects around the world will help the corporation serve the needs of Jeddah’s growing populace,” he added.

Black & Veatch has been serving the Middle East since the 1920s, undertaking projects that enhance quality of life: power generation to support economic development, and water and sanitation to improve health.

The company has worked with SWCC since 1993, notably on the Shoaibah to Jeddah water transmission system.-TradeArabia News Service