Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund-backed (PIF) flagship NEOM gigaproject will be able to produce up to 800 litres of drinking water daily from humid air. Water-from-air machines deployed at NEOM will use a process that involves extracting water vapor from air and converting it into purified liquid. Following purification, the machines will use calcium, magnesium, and sulphates to mineralise the water, which results in a drinkable water of “the highest quality”, according to NEOM.
Since a greater quantity of water is found in humid air, the machines work efficiently in NEOM for most of the year, with temperatures of 35 degrees and a humidity of 60% – relative to the temperature being normal between April and October each year. The NEOM gigaproject is being built on an area spanning 26,500 km2 in the northwestern part of Saudi Arabia. It offers investment opportunities in economic sectors and real-estate development.
Work on the first “solar dome” will begin in February and is expected to be completed by end-2020. The first-of-its-kind technology will be 100% carbon neutral, and is likely to shape the future of water desalination in the kingdom and the Middle East region, and addresses a key issue – access to fresh water. The use of the “solar dome” technology – touted as a ‘smart approach’ to desalination – harnesses solar power for water extraction, producing low-cost, environmental-friendly water, which is in line with NEOM’s aim to be an emerging hub for conservation and innovation.
Source: Construction Week
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