Desalination plants in the Persian Gulf

By:Morteza Aminmansour
Desalination Plants in the Persian Gulf,
An environmental issue or economic /security problem
Desalination, which creates fresh water from salt-water sources, has truly come of age in the last decade. According to the International Desalination Association (IDA), desalination is used in more than 100 countries, with more than half the freshwater output used in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Saudi Arabia tops the list, using close to 25 percent of worldwide desalination output produced in its more than 2,000 plants. By comparison, the United States, ranked second worldwide in desalination use, produces about 16 percent of the total output.


‘‘The water problem in the region is not only an environmental issue; it is also an economic and security problem. The governments need to act right now in order to secure water needs in short, medium and long term for different sectors by using different policy options, technology techniques, or even political pressure and deals that can secure water supplies from allying countries,

Since desalination plants are capital intensive, have a relatively short life expectancy along with high maintenance costs and damage the coastal ecosystem, governments in the region are exploring more cost effective and long serving solutions to meet growing water demand.

Such scenarios reflect the growing problem of water shortage in the Persian Gulf region, presenting a significant challenge to the people and the governments. Scanty rainfall together with high rates of evaporation and consumption have led to deficits in ‘‘water budgets''. Population growth, rapid urbanization and wasteful consumption patterns have added to the pressure. Statistics reveal that the six Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) countries have an urbanization level of about 85 percent. As a result, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, is the world's second largest consumer of water per capita after the United States. Its average daily domestic consumption is 353 liters (80 gallons) per person compared to 425 liters in the U.S.

Energy and desalination are major concerns in the Middle East and Persian gulf countries Because of the heat and humidity of the summer months, power plants are built to meet a high demand. “You can’t shut those energy plants down in the winter months, when demand is low, so energy is being wasted. One of the points is ‘Why throw away this energy? Why not use it to desalinate more water and store it?’” This can be and is done. Thermal desalination plants, which use heat, evaporation and condensation to collect freshwater, are often built in conjunction with power plants so the “waste” heat from the power plant runs the desalination plant.
The Persian Gulf meets an estimated 60 percent of its drinking water needs through desalination. Perth in Australia is looking to cover one-third of its freshwater demand through desalination.
Another crucial issue to be covered is secure water storage. “There is essentially very little ground water in all these Persian gulf countries, so one of the things we’ve been stressing to the people of the region is that they have very little water reserve. In addition, since the governments usually subsidizes the cost of water, there is little incentive to conserve(for example IRAN) This leaves the area vulnerable to crisis should something happen, either in Iran (natural disasters) or as a result of conflict, as was the case in southern Iraq, “to contaminate or destroy desalination plants.

Another area of concern in desalination is what happens to all the salt. Environmentalists have raised concerns over the waste product, known as brine, created by the process. Brine consists of mostly water and salts, along with some chemical byproducts that are “filtered” out in the desalination process. When desalination is used inland, solutions include dilution of the brine to minimize its ecological impact before putting it back into a river or sea, injecting it into underground aquifers, evaporating it to make rock salt and building pipelines to carry it to the sea. In the Persian gulf , all that salt goes back into the sea . They do consider the environmental effects, and they do a lot to try to minimize any effects on ecosystems.”
Selecting a nuclear power plant site for power production and water desalination is a very complex problem, especially in countries with moderate technology . Many interrelated factors affect the process, and professional judgments by various experts are involved. Four sites, all located on the West Coast of Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea, were chosen as potential sites for building such a plant. (All sites were in either the northern or southern section of the coast; the central part was excluded for pilgrims` safety.) The East Coast was completely eliminated in the initial screening process due to its strategic location, the existence of oil fields and refineries, and its proximity to other Persian Gulf countries to minimize radioactive releases to these countries in case of an accident.
The U.A.E. is only the most serious among Persian Gulf oil-producing countries whose thirst for electrical power has spawned efforts to find other sources of energy to save high value fossil fuels for export. Most Persian Gulf states get their water from desalinating Persian gulf waters, an energy-intensive process. With their populations growing rapidly, domestic consumption of oil is commanding a greater share of production. Late last year Saudi Arabia and other Persian gulf states began a research program looking into nuclear power; Iran, which has faced off with the United States and other international powers, insists that its nuclear program is intended to serve mounting energy demands domestically.

Extracting salt from seawater to make it drinkable is the wrong way to handle water shortages around the world and Persian gulf countries could exacerbate climate change.
Desalination uses large amounts of energy, emits greenhouse gasses and destroys marine life in some coastal areas.
''The rate of building these desalination plants seems to be growing exponentially, If that continues ... greenhouse gas emissions would accelerate and increase climate change dramatically,
WWF estimates that there are about 1,000 desalination plants around the world including in Persian gulf , adding that it was difficult to obtain good data.
Desalination has become a growing trend particularly in Australia, the Middle East, (including Persian Gulf region)Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, India and China.









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