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Riyadh City Southern Ring Water Transmission System
Reliable water supply is essential to Riyadh’s growth. As new neighborhoods, industries and destinations take shape, the capital needs infrastructure that can meet rising demand and strengthen long-term water security.
The Riyadh City Southern Ring Water Transmission System provides capacity to move approximately 1.7 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day. Its nearly 300-kilometer pipeline network connects supply from eastern Riyadh with communities and developments across the capital, including Qiddiya.
Khatib & Alami (K&A) provides design review and construction supervision for the Water Transmission Company (WTCO), helping translate complex technical requirements into coordinated site delivery.
Connecting the parts of a complex system
The project brings together transmission pipelines, three pumping stations, 12 steel water tanks, tanker filling stations and high-voltage power infrastructure. Separate contracts cover pipe supply, pipe laying, and the construction of stations and storage facilities.
Each part needs to work with the others. Design decisions must align with procurement and construction, while inspections must cover both remote stretches of pipeline and congested city locations. For WTCO, maintaining this coordination is central to progressing the works and achieving the required quality.
Resolving issues early
K&A’s dedicated engineering team reviews the contractor’s designs, identifying inconsistencies and consolidating feedback to reduce repeated submissions. Weekly technical meetings bring the relevant specialists together to resolve outstanding questions, helping limit rework and keep construction moving.
On site, pipeline inspections are organized into five-kilometer sections. Teams check welds, internal coatings and cleanliness, providing structured quality oversight across the network.
The work also involves confined spaces, deep excavations, heavy lifting and construction at height. Specialized training, gas detection, standby rescue teams and permit-to-work procedures help protect the people carrying out these activities.
Giving operators a clearer view
Centralized monitoring connects the pipelines, pumping stations and storage facilities, drawing on more than 650 field instruments. Operators can track network conditions, manage reservoir levels and adjust pumping to demand.
Leak detection and fiber-optic acoustic sensing help identify water losses, unauthorized excavation and other potential threats. This visibility supports earlier intervention, helping protect the network and the water it carries.
Supporting the capital’s future
The Southern Ring system adds transmission and storage capacity to support Riyadh’s growing communities and economy. K&A’s design review and construction supervision help WTCO maintain quality across the works, supporting the long-term performance of this essential infrastructure.
The project recorded 5.6 million safe man-hours without a Lost Time Injury across works involving more than 2,000 people. It was named Best Infrastructure Project of the Year at the Construction Innovation Awards KSA 2026.
