Water Infrastructure in Kuwait

Fresh and brackish water network

The water distribution system in Kuwait comprises two networks: one for fresh water and the other for brackish water. Each system has its own underground reservoirs, pumping stations and elevated towers. The brackish water is used for blending with desalinated water, irrigating agricultural landscapes and public parks and for domestic purposes, while fresh water is used only for domestic purposes.[1]

Fresh water produced from desalination plants or groundwater wells is pumped to underground reservoirs, then to distribution networks and elevated towers. Pumping to the distribution networks is monitored and supervised by the Water Control Centre in Shuwaikh.[2]

The number of connections to private, commercial and industrial buildings was about 185,151 for fresh water and 76,488 for brackish water in 2019. In areas where piped water is not yet available, people can obtain their water from water filling stations located across the country. The distribution rate of these stations is in the range of 10-12% of the general consumption.[3]

Desalination plants

There are eight desalination plants in Kuwait, located along the coast, with a total installed capacity of 3.11 MCM/d.[4] Map 1 and Table 1 show the name, location and installed capacity of these plants.

Table 1: Installed capacity of desalination plants in Kuwait.

Kuwait uses mainly multi-stage flash (MSF) distillation of seawater to provide potable water. Most of this is produced with co-generation power desalting plants, in which oil or gas is used to generate electricity and excess heat is used for the MSF process.[5]

In 1951, Kuwait became the first country in the world to commission a desalination plant for drinking water production. The first plant was a submerged tube plant located in Shuwaikh. This was replaced in 1960 with the first MSF desalination plant with a capacity of 4,546 m³/d.[6] Kuwait rapidly installed more MSF plants, with the unit capacity increasing with time and experience.[7]

Sanitation network and wastewater treatment plants

Kuwait is ranked first among Arab countries and fifth globally in the coverage of sanitation services.[8] [9] Approximately 90% of the population has access to water and sanitation services. Inflow to wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is municipal wastewater, which is received from residential, governmental and commercial buildings, as well as surface water.[10] Storm water infiltrations drain into a separate network from the wastewater network and are discharged untreated into the sea. No fee is charged for wastewater collection in Kuwait. Sanitation services are funded by an annual budget allocated by the government.[11]

As shown in Table 2 and Map 1, there are currently five WWTPs in Kuwait. These are Riqqa, Umm al-Hayman, Sulaibiya, Kabd and Khiran (pilot plant).[12]

Table 2: Kuwait’s wastewater treatment plant capacity.[13]

Sulaibiya WWTP

The Sulaibiya WWTP and reclamation plant was commenced in 2005 as the largest facility in the world that applies RO and ultrafiltration (UF) membrane water treatment, to treat all sewage water generated from Kuwait City and Hawalli.[14]

Sulaibiya WWTP alone treats approximately 64% of the country’s sewage. The plant is divided into two sections: the biological treatment plant and the reclamation plant.[15] Pre-screened effluent first undergoes a backwash of UF. Then, the inlet distributes the resulting flow to nine aeration tanks, with a total volume of 208,900 m³. The mixed liquor then flows to a secondary clarifier to be pumped next to the UF plant. UF-purified effluent proceeds to the RO section, which contains 21,000 membranes that filter the effluent through three successive stages. As a result, 85% of the inlet to UF/RO is purified, while the remaining is rejected as brine and dumped into the sea.[16]