The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region experiences water scarcity due to lack of surface water and rapidly depleting groundwater resources, rendering it fully reliant on desalination technologies to provide 99% of the potable water demand. The desalination of sea and brackish water in the GCC region poses many challenges because of the complex water physiochemical properties that are influenced by high salinity and elevated temperature. For instance, predominant desalination technology like Reverse Osmosis (RO) is encountering technical difficulties in removing Boron due to low rejection rates of the standard membranes.

In order to comply with the WHO’s recommended level of 2.4 mg/l and the more strict GCC standards ranging from 5 to 1 mg/l, it is necessary to integrate operational controls, like double pass reverse osmosis systems with specific adjustments of pH levels or utilizing advanced thin filmcomposite membranes.

Furthermore, it is important to manage the development of disinfection byproducts, like Bromate, to maintain water quality and adhere to regulatory guidelines by keeping levels below 10 μg/l. Moreover, the safety standards for microbiological content require no presence of pathogens such as Escherichia coli and total coliform bacteria, by implementing robust biological controls and monitoring routines.

The accessibility to sanitation services in GCC region is at the highest levels globally.

The technologies used for treating both black and grey water are mostly governed by Biological Nutrient Removal (BNR) and Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) systems, to
ensure the safety of potential reuse and discharges of wastewater effluents.
BNRs are