The cutting edge designs and innovative solutions have shaped the function of growing cities over the past five decades, but what does the future hold for infrastructure planning and architecture in the Middle East?

And more specifically, what does the future hold for the water industry in the region? How do you service the desert with water?

Water coming from the tap is something we all take for granted, but there are considerable amounts of work behind the scenes to ensure that populations receive water in the safest and most efficient way possible.

Managing the supply of water is by no means a simple task, and when one combines that with the desert environment, the complexities, unsurprisingly, become even greater. In many countries across the region — such as Saudi Arabia, for example — there is a huge gap in terms of basic infrastructure and waste water.

Approximately only 50 per cent of the population is connected to waste water and most of Saudi Arabia is reliant on septic tanks, illustrating this striking gap.

In addition, in recent years there has been a significant number of announcements made in Saudi Arabia regarding the increase in water tariffs that are needed to cover the cost of water supply to account for the growing population. Naturally, the movement of water represents a big challenge here, but the issues this country has are by no means unique.

How can technology help?

The good news is that there are a number of different ways that technology can be used to help. Indeed, the use of technology is bringing us closer together and is helping to bridge some of these gulfs in the supply of water.

For example, when it comes to information and intelligence-sharing, we now see that data can be shared much faster than ever before, and this, in turn, enables decisions to be made more rapidly. Technology is ultimately helping us during both the planning and deployment stages, so that we can move water in more efficient and collaborative ways.

The use of technology and data sharing is already having an impact in the supply of water in Saudi Arabia. For example, the Saudi National Water Company’s (NWC) strategic drinking water storage facility, now supplies the city of Jeddah.

It has also been named the biggest facility of its kind in the world — with a capacity of 2.064 million cubic meters. The achievement is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records replacing the previous entry of 1.8 million cubic meters. This facility could not have been realised without the advancements of technology to support this vision.

To encapsulate this, the product team at Atkins used Virtual Reality (VR) to bring the visual aspect to delivery. This was just one way that a digital tool was utilised to drive new and innovative ways of working, by mixing software and technology into product delivery. Another example of this is MR (Mixed Reality) technology, which offers the possibility to bring members from anywhere in the world into a project ecosystem, and help link all the visualisations with engineering innovations. This means technology played a huge part in realising the vision for the supply of water in Jeddah.

Using VR to engage stakeholders in the design, helps to ensure a clear and comprehensive approach between the client, the design intent and contractor input. In the past, projects in the Middle East have required numerous design changes as a result of problems understanding 2D drawings. Immersive environments help demystify the understanding of data.

Not everyone can do coding or manage databases, but everyone can quickly learn to navigate a virtual model and access data through it.

Although the use of technology is largely successful when it comes to developing clean water supplies in the region, it can also focus too much on the visual aspect of prospects, rather than what it should deliver. Technology can only be viable within projects if it brings real value.

What does the future hold?

The challenges that the water industry faces can be changeable — particularly where the climate is concerned. Ten years ago the Middle East had perhaps one day of rain per year, however due to cloud seeding and effect of climate change, inevitably there has been wetter weather in recent times. Indeed, natural changes to the climate, and resulting flooding, have now dramatically increased. Currently there are systems to mitigate the situation, but drainage systems are ill equipped to cater for any particular extremes in weather.

In 20 years times, these may not be effective at all. It is increasingly difficult as such, to look at the history of climate change in places like Dubai as there is little historical data available — meaning building a solution can be extremely challenging.

The next 50 years need to deliver the integrated solutions that people want to see. Even though we don’t see the life cycle in the desert, we need to be involved in preventing the effects.

Looking to the future, it is clear that we need to move forward, though that may involve looking back to the past at what worked and what lessons were learnt. Over the next 50 years, as our region continues to grow, managing the safe flow of water for growing populations will be integral.

Whilst turning on the tap is something we all take for granted, technology continues to help drive innovation and efficiency even in parts of the world where water is often scarce.

The writer is the Water Market Director at Atkins Middle East & Africa.