A trip to Saudi Water Desalination Plant

Syeda Salwa Fatima
Grade 10B
Al Wurood International School

We all drink water but have we ever thought from where this water is processed and how is it brought to us?

Water is a basic need of every living creature and it is a natural resource on which lives on earth depends. The raw seawater is salty in nature and hence its not fit for drinking.

The fresh water we drink comes to us through a tedious process. Sometimes, some minerals are also added to it. On my trip to the Saudi Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) plant, we learned how the water is treated. 

The water is taken from the sea which contains a lot of dissolved salts, minerals, many impurities like stones, particles, and microorganisms. The water is sucked through huge water pipes from the sea. It is then passed to through two-three layers of filter.

In the first layer, big stones and materials are separated. In the second layer, soft sand and other minute impurities are separated. Then the water is passed to a stage-wise filter, where pressure is applied to purify it further. After which, it again goes through another high pressure zone before coming to us through a pipe.

Chemicals are injected into the tank to keep the bacteria at bay. The water is then stored in huge tanks. The capacity of each tank is about 5,000,000 gallons. The water in the tanks are then sent to various water services which in turn passes through pipelines to reach the buildings. The chemicals laid in the water tanks are chlorine, antiscale, sulphuric acid, etc.

This remarkable and wonderful experience of visiting the plant revealed all the mechanism of desalinating water at each stage.