NWC expects to begin receiving the tenders in June to assess them and complete the contracting procedures.

National Water Company (NWC) said it has invited bids from prequalified consortiums for the operation and maintenance of water and sewage treatment plants in the kingdom’s Eastern Cluster, which covers more than 12 cities and governorates.

The operation and management contract will be implemented in coordination with the private sector, it stated.

Issuing the specifications for the management contract to local and international prequalified consortia, NWC said this was the third contract to be tendered within a short period.

The company had in December last year, tendered the second operation and maintenance management contract for the Central Region with the deadline for receiving bids set for April. 

The first operation and maintenance contract was for the Northwestern Cluster, comprising the regions of Madinah and Tabuk, which was awarded to a Saudi-French-Philippine consortium for a seven-year period.

On the Eastern Cluster contract, NWC said it contains key indicators to be reached, the most important of which are: improving and developing customer experience; raising operational efficiency through prorating costs, reducing water waste, and improving network management, in addition to contributing to financial sustainability.

The Saudi company expects to begin receiving the tenders in June to assess them and complete the contracting procedures with the winning consortium.

The winning consortium will supervise the development, management, operation and maintenance of water and sanitary drainage systems in addition to management and development of customer services, bill collection, leakage reduction, training, qualifying and developing current staff, and upgradation of the performance of the water and sewage drainage sectors in the Eastern Cluster, it added.