Consultant to assess resource needs in expanding Middle Eastern Kingdom

Engineering group Mott MacDonald is to undertake a study into water demand and resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The firm has been appointed by the King Abdullah Research & Consulting Institute to carry out the research which will inform plans for new desalination plants for the next 25 years. The study is due to be completed at the end of the year and comes as the demand for water in the Kingdom increases and desalination plants in the regions commisioned in the 1980s are about to reach the end of their productive lives.

Mott MacDonald project manager Sarkar Soumenkumar said: "A particular challenge will be adapting plans for water generation and replacement of existing plant in an environment where due to low density in population it is difficult to provide water transmission at a cost that is economically viable."

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