Waste not, want not

Malki attributes this to a track record of achievement and an engineering-based, rather than a product-based, approach to overcoming its customers’ challenges. “We put technologies together in order to solve a specific problem,” he says.

“We won’t just sell you specific equipment that we promote.”

Another factor in the company’s favour, according to its general manager, is its expertise in both the equipment and chemical aspects of water and wastewater treatment. “We cover both ends and that gives us a better perspective than our competitors,” Malki argues.

Saudi Arabia’s lack of water and its abundance of oil are the key factors behind AES Arabia’s success in the country. The company, founded in 1993, has provided water desalination solutions to a number of major customers across Saudi Arabia, including Saline Water Conversion Corporation, SAWACO, Saudi Oger and Bin Laden Group.

The company is also enjoying success in the oil and gas sector, where it is providing Saudi Aramco and other companies with what are known as ‘produced-water treatment solutions’. Produced-water comes out with oil when it is extracted from the ground.

In this case, the water, which is heavy in all kinds of contaminants, is cleaned up and re-injected into the ground to help maintain pressure in the oil field.

“In the desert, you don’t have access to pure water,” Malki explains. “The best thing is to treat the produced-water and render it suitable for re-injection.”

That is a tricky business; it’s extremely difficult to treat that water, it’s biologically contaminated, and full of suspended solids, oil and corrosive substances.”

“We treat it to levels suitable for re-injection.”

The company also has the expertise to provide wastewater treatment solutions, where used water can be cleaned up to a level where it can be reused for a variety of applications.

AES Arabia has a number of major industrial players as clients for these solutions, including Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Pepsi Cola and United National Dairy.

Despite this illustrious client list and the size of Saudi Arabia’s manufacturing sector, desalination and produced-water treatment remain the key drivers of AES Arabia’s business.

This is largely down to the fact that the whole concept of wastewater treatment and reuse is yet to take off in the country, particularly in the industrial sector.

The reason, according to AES Arabia, is that legislation and utilities’ pricing structures simply do not encourage treatment and reuse.

“There’s a lot of wastewater being disposed of that can be put back into effective use,” Malki says. “What drives people towards reuse is regulatory systems, limitations on disposal or situations that cause nuisance.”

“My opinion is that the region has not yet presented adequate regulations that would promote reuse of wastewater. In Saudi Arabia, it does not cost much to dispose of water, so reuse is not being brought about by commercial pressure.”

The amount of water that can be reused in industrial settings varies, depending on the sector, but a concept called ‘zero discharge’ does exist and is achievable, according to Malki.

“We can provide such solutions and it is worthwhile as an investment, especially if the cost of disposing of this water becomes expensive,” he explains.

For now, however, a lot of the company’s pitches to industrial clients do not end in a contract being awarded. “You present a solution, the solution is not cheap because treating industrial waste is expensive, and the customer finds alternative means and methods of avoiding proceeding with treatment,” Malki says.

“This is where we feel a regulatory system is essential in increasing awareness and imposing restrictions on industries.”

Outside Saudi Arabia, attitudes towards treatment and reuse may be changing. Authorities are imposing higher tariffs for taking wastewater from manufacturing plants and treating it.

Some industrial sectors, such as district cooling, are also reporting difficulties in obtaining the quantities of water they need to do business.

In the absence of regional bodies similar to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the incentive to use less and recycle more may well have to be purely financial.

“There always has to be a driving factor behind the decision to treat waste,” says Malki.

The region’s dependence on desalination is another good reason why consumption should be reduced and more water reused.

Desalination involves taking water from the Gulf’s enclosed waters, removing salt and other impurities, and disposing of this bi-product in the sea.

As regional populations mushroom, more and more water is being taken out of the Gulf’s seas and more and more bi-product is being put back into them.

“You will find an increase in the salinity of water in Gulf seas. Many people do not realise and do not give it much attention, but after several years you are going to have a serious situation,” says Malki.

Regardless of the legislative picture, AES Arabia’s objective is to cover the entire MENA region, providing whatever solutions each market requires. Whilst desalination and the oil and gas sector are its key business drivers in Saudi Arabia, customer requirements may be different in other areas.

“We are focused on profit, so we are going to go to markets where the regulatory system is developing faster and make people aware we have solutions,” explains Malki. “We have an objective to cover the MENA market from Saudi Arabia and satellite offices are part of our plan.”