Water supply covered 80.76% of Saudi Arabia's population in 2024, but sewerage covered only 65.60%, a gap of 15.16 percentage points in the national statistics for which National Water Company is the data source.
Progress, but from a low base
Sewerage coverage has risen from 56.65% in 2019. The sewer network reached 50,104.14 km at the end of 2024, counting only networks that are built and operating, with 432.68 km added that year. The water network, at 130,054 km, is more than twice as long.
Treatment is not the bottleneck
The plants that receive the sewage have kept ahead of flows. Municipal treatment capacity rose 21.9% between 2020 and 2024, to 2,471,794,879 m³ a year, while volume treated fell from 92.1% to 85.2% of capacity. In 2024, 162 plants treated 2,105.12 million m³, equal to 99.3% of the 2,119.81 million m³ collected. Almost everything that reaches a plant is treated; the gap lies in the pipes and household connections that bring it there.
The company's own figures
National Water Company's figures to March 2026 put wastewater coverage at 68.1% and water coverage at 85.9%, on a basis the company does not state. Its strategic targets are 70% for wastewater coverage and 100% each for wastewater collection and tertiary treatment.
Where the work is going
Sanitation is a substantial part of capital work. Of the 50 projects worth SAR 2.4 billion the company reported completing in 2026 by June 30, 17 were sanitation projects, adding 477 km of wastewater lines.
How the coverage gap compares with losses and continuity of supply, how far private operators now run treatment plants, and what the 2027 tariff means for wastewater charges are examined in the full report. The full report, Water Systems Overview: National Water Company, is available for USD 499. For a free overview, read the National Water Company Utility Snapshot.