THE SOUTH KOREAN company, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, has acquired a (USD) $421 million contract to build a seawater reverse osmosis desalination facility in Saudi Arabia.^[1]  The facility will provide water for 130,000 people in the vicinity of Shuaibah, approximately 110 kilometres south of Jeddah. 

LAST WEEK, Saudi Arabia and Jordan signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study for two nuclear reactors that will power seawater desalination in Jordan. Officials from the two countries signed a total of 15 agreements and various contracts during a Saudi delegation’s visit with King Abdullah of Jordan.^[2]

IN ALAMOGORDO, New Mexico, city commissioners approved a $9.5 million contract with Smithco Construction to build a brackish water desalination facility.^[3] Mayor Richard Boss stated that the total cost of the project will reach approximately $30 million.  The facility will produce 3,785 cubic metres of water per day, with a capacity to generate an additional 7,571 cubic metres of water per day.^[4]

^{Desalination plant at Tugun, in Australia’s Gold Coast  Credit: Gold Coast Bulletin}

IN AUSTRALIA, the Gold Coast Desalination Plant is increasing its water production to compensate for maintenance work that has temporarily halted operations at the Mudgeeraba treatment facility.^[5]  The Gold Coast plant will supply 60 million litres of drinking water per day, for over 170,000 people. In 2010, the plant was built for $912,600,000 million (AU $1.2 billion), with a capability to increase its production during emergencies or other unforeseen circumstances.^[6]

FOR THE 2016 FISCAL YEAR, the U.S. company AquaVenture Holdings has reported a 14 percent revenue growth that led to earnings of $114 million.^[7] One of the company’s subsidiaries, Seven Seas Water Corporation—which supplies water to municipal, industrial, and commercial clients in the U.S. and internationally—supplied 48.9 percent of the year’s revenue.  Quench USA, Inc., another subsidiary, represented 42.7 percent of the revenue, servicing North American businesses with water filtration systems, ice dispensers, and other specialized products. The remaining 8.4 percent was generated by other initiatives.^[8]

IN LATE MARCH, in Fortaleza, Brazil, officials held a national symposium on water desalination and reuse.^[9]  The event was organized by the Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (ABES). Renato Giani Ramos, one the of the symposium’s organizers, stated that event sought to provide technical, managerial, and economic information on desalination and reuse in Brazil.^[10] The objective, ultimately, is to diversify and develop the country’s water supply and infrastructure.