Shuaibah 5 SWRO
Seawater RO, 600,000 m3/day design, raised to about 665,000 m3/day in operation in Saudi Arabia.
Operational
The record
- Country
- Saudi Arabia
- Location
- Shuaiba (Al-Lith, Makkah region)
- Coordinates
- 20.670, 39.530
- Technology
- Seawater RO
- Capacity
- 600,000 m3/day design, raised to about 665,000 m3/day in operation
- Capital cost
- —
- Stage
- Operational
- Owner or client
- Saline Water Conversion Corporation, now the Saudi Water Authority
- Contractor
- Advanced Water Technology (AWT) with Rawafid Industrial
- Operator
- Saudi Water Authority
- Finance
- Saudi government capital budget
- Award or start year
- 2020
- Commissioned
- —
Record last checked 2026-09-18.
History
- 2020-12
Awarded by SWCC to Advanced Water Technology and Rawafid Industrial at 600,000 m3/day
- 2025
Won the Asian Water Awards
- 2025-05
SWA reports 664,000 m3/day and 2.34 kWh per cubic metre, the main source of water for Makkah during Hajj
- 2026-02
SWA reports output raised to 665,000 m3/day and a Guinness World Records certification for lowest energy use
Sources
6 references
Every field in the record above is taken from the references below. A field that none of them confirms prints as a dash.
- SaudiGulf Projects, Saudi Arabia awards Shuqaiq 4, Shuaiba 5 desalination projects, 13 December 2020. saudigulfprojects.com.
- Shuaiba 5 at 600,000 m3/day awarded by SWCC to a consortium of Advanced Water Technology and Rawafid Industrial.
- Saudi Water Authority, A Global Model of Efficiency: Shuaiba-5, Makkah, 31 May 2025. swa.gov.sa.
- 664,000 m3/day, energy use 2.34 kWh per cubic metre, the starting point of the water journey to Makkah and the Holy Sites and the main source during Hajj, cited by the World Bank as a global benchmark.
- SaudiGulf Projects, Shuaiba-5 desalination system surpasses design capacity by 11 per cent, 20 February 2026. saudigulfprojects.com.
- MENA Water Review major projects register and PPP pipeline — compiled from procurer publications, development-bank project pages and trade reporting; each record names its source.
output raised from 600,000 to 665,000 m3/day at no extra cost, Guinness World Records certification for the world's lowest energy use in reverse osmosis desalination at 1.7 kWh per cubic metre, Asian Water Awards 2025. The 2.34 and 1.7 kWh figures are not reconciled by either source and are reported as published.