A Demand for Water Jonathan Hanahan Source: WorldWater.org
287
Volume 23
Total Capacity m3/day
Al Manakh 2
286
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
KAUST Update: Desalination Research Center to develop new water management technologies (Arab News, July 16, 2009).
300000
For a proposed means of growth without water, see p. 236.
•
Other
200000
•
GCC
100000
desalination plants to shutdown for even a short time, the available public water supplies would not last more than 24 hours.5 One such event occurred between August 2008 and March 2009, when the migration of toxic blooms of algae through the sea forced the Fujairah plant (455,000 cubic meters/ day) to shutdown for several days at a time.6 With every liter of freshwater generated, a highly salt-saturated byproduct called brine is pumped back into the Gulf. This ‘give and take’ is increasing the salt levels in the water, making it more difficult for plants to remove the salt the next time. Reports from the UAE Ministry of the Environment and Water reveal that the increasing discharge of brine combined with the inability of the waters to replenish themselves fast enough7 has caused salinity levels to increase by almost 25% in the last decade.8 This constant strain runs the risk of pushing the Gulf to a point of ‘Peak Salt’, where the Gulf waters become so salty that relying on them for fresh water becomes unten able, not to mention what kind of toll the process will have on the waters’ biodiversity.9 But even before the tipping point is reached, another com plication arises. ‘If the concentration of salt in creases, desalination plants will need more energy to remove it’, said Dr. Barghouti. ‘Definitely the future is going to be more expensive.’10 It now costs more money to produce a liter of water than it does to produce a liter of oil,11 causing the government and many local plant operators to look for new and cleaner sources of energy to run the desalination plants. The recent announcement of contracts to build a series of nuclear power plants in the region are encouraging for water providers. As well, Saudi Arabia• an nounced in January 2009 that it will begin powering desalination plants using solar energy. Until these solar and nuclear plants are built, desalination will have to rely on local oil and gas. Yet a cleaner energy source solves only part of the problem. The process of desalination itself will always be
0
‘The Gulf is almost dead’, states Dr. Shawki Barghouti.1 It might sound like a platitude from the financial papers, but the Director of the Inter national Center for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai is referring to the vast body of water that has been a major source in feeding the Gulf’s urban boom. With increasing prosperity, the region’s cities need more fresh water. Unfortunately, the Gulf region may be rich in oil but it is poor in water. And as it currently stands, desalination of the Gulf waters is the predominant solution. Yet with increased reliance comes increased detriment, as pollution and operational runoff are now showing their effects by altering ecosystems and killing marine life. Can uninhibited overconsumption of a limited reserve be exhausting what sustains it? If the Gulf is going to die, as Dr. Barghouti purports, are there any solutions? ‘There is no economic growth without water•’, said Mohamad Dawoud, a water specialist with the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency.2 Con tinued urban development has also come with increasing levels of water consumption in the UAE. At an average rate of over 550 liters of water per day per person, the UAE is the highest per capita water consuming nation in the world.3 Comparably Jordan, a country with similar fresh water reserve issues, uses only a fraction of that, averaging about 85 liters per day. Freefalling water tables and saltwater-infiltrated aquifers have caused this region to turn to desalination, which has been viewed as the solution. Since 1976, desalination plants have sprouted up along the banks of the Gulf, with even more proposed every year. Currently the Gulf operates almost half of the world’s largest desalination plants. Their daily water output has grown over 150% between 1995 and 2005.4 One day the well will run dry (quite literally) as constant pressure on this single source is sure to come with its problems. Government figures show that should an emergency cause current
Misurata [Libya] Azzawiya [Libya] Shomrad [Israel] Ashdod [Israel] Palmahim [Israel] Palmachin [Israel] Haifa [Israel] Arzew [Algeria] Arzew [Algeria] Barka [Oman] Ras Abu Font B1 [Qatar] Buraydah [KSA] Bedok [Singapore] Bandar Imam [Iran] Gwadar [Pakistan] Karachi [Pakistan] S. Miami Hei [USA] Tampa Bay [USA] Corpus Chris [USA] Tampa Bay II [USA] Freeport [USA] Brownsville [USA] Mostaganem [Algeria] Algiers Zeralda [Algeria] Algiers Djinet [Algeria] Mirfa [UAE] Dana Point [USA] El Paso [USA] Shuqaiq II [KSA] Al-Zour North [Kuwait] Jebel Ali G RO [UAE] Palm Beach 3 [USA] Tabuk I [KSA] Point Lisas [Trinidad To.] Sinai [Egypt] Umm Al Nar IWPP [UAE] Ulu Pandan [Singapore] Carboneras [Spain] WA Perth [Australia] Hermosillo [Mexico] Iraq I [Iraq] Singapore I [Singapore] Hadera-Caesarea [Israel] Ashdod [Israel] Yantai [China] Zara Maain [Jordan] Zara Maain [Jordan] Murcia [Spain] Benghazi South [Libya] Boca Raton [USA] Negev Arava [India] Al Wasia [KSA] Shuwaikh [Kuwait] Malaga [Spain] Fujairah [UAE] Ras Laffan 2 [Qatar] Ras Laffan [Qatar] Al Bahah I [KSA] Jebel Ali K II [UAE] San Diego [USA] Huntington B [USA] Carlsbad [USA] Subiya [Kuwait] Subiya 2 [Kuwait] Ras Laffan [Qatar] Ras Az Zawr [KSA] Taweelah C RO [UAE] Taweelah A1 Ext [UAE] Tripoli [Libya] Fountain Val [USA] Orange Count [USA] Shuaiba IV [KSA] Al Khobar IV [KSA] Al Jobail III [KSA] Al Jobail I Ext [KSA] Hidd 3 [Bahrain] Mirfa [UAE] PR Puerto Rico [USA] Umm Al Nar [UAE] Fujairah [UAE] Taweelah B III [UAE] Minjur Chennai [India] Sulaibya [Kuwait] Jebel Ali N [UAE] Jebel Ali L-1 [UAE] Pt. Comfort [USA] Jebel Ali L-2 [UAE] Shuaiba III [KSA] Ashkelon [Israel] Al Jobail [KSA] Qidfa [UAE] Fujairah II [UAE] SanFrancisco [USA] Shuweihat 2 [UAE] Shuweihat [UAE] Al-Zour North [Kuwait] Jebel Ali M [UAE] Al Jobail II Ex [KSA] Ras Al-Zour [KSA] Shuaiba III [KSA]
Top 10 Desalination Countries as Measure of Total Output
Australia
Japan China
Saudi Arabia* Algeria
Source The IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering
1 Vesela Todorava, ‘Desalination Threat To the Growing Gulf’, The National, August 13, 2009. 2 Lara Setrakian, ‘Facing Water Woes, Abu Dhabi Greens Desert’. At: www.ABCnews.com, March 31, 2008. 3 Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the highest total per capita consumption and jointly make up some 90% of the region’s total water demand. 4 ‘Aquastats UAE’. At: http://www.fao.org/nr/water. 5 Lara Setrakian [See note 2]. 6 Vesela Todorava [see note 1]. 7 The relatively small opening to open water at the Strait of Hormuz only allows the Gulf waters to be replenished every eight to nine years. 8 The Gulf is one of the saltiest seas in the world due to its relative shallowness and high summer evaporation rates. 9 Vesela Todorava [see note 1]. 10 Idem. 11 Lara Setrakian [See note 2]. 12 Vesela Todorava, ‘Thousands of Abu Dhabi Buildings to Face Cuts in Water Usage’ The National, January13, 2010.
Source Global Water Intelligence and the International Desalination Association
detrimental to its source. It is not the solution it was headlined to be. Combating the problem of water security• in the future will be a key issue as these societies continue to grow. Simply adding more desalination plants to supply more water is not the answer, and a migration to more conservative tactics needs to be considered. Attempts are being made by organizations like the Environmental Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Emirates Wildlife Society, which have invested almost $6 million into conser vation campaigns and the instillation of devices, to cut water consumption by up to a third in some 60,000 homes• and businesses in the region.12 Others have begun migrating plant locations to the much bigger Gulf of Oman. Yet consumption continues to outweigh conservation in the region. Targeting household consumption cannot be solely counted on to combat the long term issue of agriculture, alongside the continued landscaping of water parks, gated estates and golf courses.
Spain
UAE
USA
Qatar
Kuwait
The output of desalination plants in the top 4 Gulf countries surpasses the total domestic withdrawal of water for Canada: 8.55B m3/year
Read how Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is approaching public awareness on p. 244.
Volume 23
For more on water security, refer to p. 464.
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Al Manakh 2
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289
Desalination plant, Kuwait.
*Saudi Arabia has also made several announcements over 2009 stating their intention for massive investment in power and water plants, totalling more than $60 billion over the next twenty years. (Arab News, May 10, 2009)