Jeddah, March 23, 2025 – King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) researchers, in collaboration with local farmers and the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, are developing innovative solutions to tackle Saudi Arabia’s freshwater scarcity in agriculture, according to a KAUST press release.
A new project by the KAUST Center of Excellence for Sustainable Food Security aims to enhance sustainable agriculture in arid environments by integrating controlled environment agriculture (CEA) with desalination of non-conventional water resources. The initiative focuses on desalination and wastewater treatment technologies to supply “clean enough” water for hydroponic farming of high-value crops, addressing both plant health and cost-effectiveness.
KAUST Environmental Science and Engineering Professor Noreddine Ghaffour, the project’s principal investigator, stated, “Why not tailor desalination technology by removing only what we want removed? It will be cheaper than previous methods because we will use less energy while targeting specific crops.” His team is working on solutions to improve food abundance and economic growth, with hopes of making the Kingdom an exporter rather than an importer of such technologies.
The release highlighted that current desalination practices for brackish water are inefficient and costly, removing all ions, including essential nutrients absent in local soils, requiring remineralization. The KAUST team’s selective approach only eliminates elements harmful to each crop type, reducing processing steps, energy consumption, and costs.
“Some crops require more salt, some need specific nutrients, and others cannot tolerate boron. Our goal is to tailor the process and keep costs as low as possible,” Ghaffour emphasized.
Launched in September 2024, the two-year research project involves KAUST scientists evaluating nanofiltration, electrodialysis, and brackish water reverse osmosis to determine the most effective solutions. One approach, “forward osmosis,” employs liquid-phase fertilizers to drive the process.
Additionally, the project integrates anaerobic membrane bioreactor technology with ultraviolet disinfection to reclaim municipal wastewater, enhancing CEA system water quality and nutrient availability.
“This initiative will map various groundwater sources in the Kingdom, identify crop-specific desalination techniques, and optimize the most efficient treatment configurations for testing in the KAUST Plant Science Core Lab, ultimately delivering prototypes at TRL 4-5,” the release stated.
Aligned with Saudi Arabia’s sustainability and food security goals, the project promotes resilient farming practices, wastewater reuse, and reduced reliance on freshwater. “It underscores KAUST’s role as a key driver of impactful research, helping address critical national challenges and cementing its position as one of Saudi Arabia’s valuable assets,” the release concluded.