Introduction
The supply of fresh, clean palatable water in the Middle East is a priority that no-one denies, so much so that it often affects relations between Middle Eastern countries – even more than oil. So vital is fresh water to the region that scarcity of adequate supplies has encouraged many of the region’s politicians to form strange and sometimes unwanted alliances and confrontations. Throughout the region there is a predominance of trans-national rivers and aquifers which limits the extent to which water problems can be resolved at an intra-state level.
Academics have waxed long and lyrical about “water diplomacy”, with conflicts centring around control of the tributaries and groundwater reservoirs an integral part both of the on-going conflict and of the current peace processes. While many countries continue to build desalination plants, others drill extensively and at excessive cost. The world economic downturn is having an effect on certain projects but the drive for increased water production capacity in an area of the world where demand continues to outstrip supply is relentless.
Saudi Arabia is by far the world's largest producer of desalinated water – around 30 per cent of global water production – pumping almost 600m gallons per day, thereby meeting 70% of the Kingdom’s fresh drinking water demand. It also treats some 2 million cubic metres per day of wastewater. Increasing its desalination capacity to 10.7 million cubic metres per day by 2020 will require the country to invest some US$53 billion if it is to meet expected demand. Not a simple task.
The Middle East, according to the World Bank, has 5% of the world’s population but only 1% of the water and it predicts that per capita water availability in the region will fall by at least 50% by 2050 and warns of “serious, social and economic consequences if countries do not adapt their current water management practices”. In a recent report the World Bank added that, in its opinion “…governments in the region actually spend a considerable amount of money on the water sector, but not in the most efficient manner”. It concluded that, in a region that is 85 per cent desert – one of the most arid on earth – inefficient water management currently costs economies in the region approximately 1 per cent to 3 per cent of gross domestic product every year.
Recently, Abdullah Al Amiri, Chairman of the Emirates Energy Awards, a subsidiary of the Dubai Quality Group, said that the UAE will need US$10bn to satisfy water and energy demand for the next ten years, due to increasing land developments and projects that increase by 12 per cent each year.
Using existing resources more efficiently is one of the key strategies in the region with the concept of “virtual water” being addressed. Crop growing uses significant amounts of water and so, by importing certain crops, less water is required. It has been estimated that over 90% of all water budgets in the Middle East and North African are devoted to the agricultural sector.
Dubai
As one of seven states in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai is investing heavily. As the country’s real estate market continues to blossom and with industry and population growth seemingly unrelenting, demands on the water infrastructure are higher than ever. Current water capacity is 262 million gallons per day but this is expected to rise to 800 million by 2015. The UAE has invested a total of U$50 billion in power and desalination during the past 10 years and Dubai itself has embarked on a mission to more than treble its desalinated water capacity over the next eight to 10 years. It will invest up to U$20 billion in five power and water projects being planned or under construction.
At the recent IDA Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse 2009, Leon Awerbuch, a board member of the International Desalination Association, said that Dubai’s investment in new desalination plants – it currently has six in operation – will “more than double” capacity when the five new plants will go on stream, each producing around 120 million gallons per day. Earlier this year, DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) announced that it plans to invest Dh57 billion in new projects that are part of a Dh72 billion programme to boost water and power production. Statistics released by DEWA show that Dubai’s annual demand for water rose by 10 per cent in 2008.
Government policy is, apparently, to take water industry projects to privatisation however, international water quality and environmental regulations that must be met by water providers means a new look at suitable technologies. As customers demand improved services, suppliers and contractors are examining new, emerging treatment and distribution systems. In order to meet Dubai’s rapid economic and population growth a US$10.89 billion water and electricity (IWPP) complex in Jebel Ali is part of the mainstream infrastructure investment that Dubai Electricity and Water Authority(DEWA) says will ensure that the Emirate will never experience a shortage of power or water.
The Hassyan Power and Desalination complex is being constructed in three phases and when completed in 2020 will produce some 600 million gallons of water per day and 9,000 megawatts of electricity.
Added to this, Dubai, in addition to its US$3.3 billion infrastructure improvement programme, is spending US$168.8 million in the construction of three massive rectangular, 60 million gallon drinking water reservoirs in the Mushrif area to meet water demand from new property developments in the country. This development will take DEWA’s current water storage capacity from 235 million to 415 million gallons. Contractor, the Mammut Group in conjunction with partners, the Max Boegel Group of Germany, began work in the Spring of last year (2008) and the work is expected to take 15 months.
Behzad Ferdows, Chairman and CEO of the Dubai-headquartered Mammut Group said that this project marked a major milestone in Dubai’s expansion of its utility infrastructure. He said: “With rapid population growth and economic development driving an exponential increase in the demand for water, governments throughout the region are continuously boosting supply to keep pace".
Nakheel – part of the investment company Istithmar, and the property developer behind the Palm Island and the collection of private islands known as The World off the coast of the emirate state – had to seek new solutions to meet water and wastewater requirements for this adventurous property development project. In 2004 it was announced that the Singapore company Hyflux would, in a joint venture with local Istithmar, procure the US$400 million water and wastewater treatment projects. The contracts were awarded on a design, build, own and operate (DBOO) basis.
The first of the two projects was for a 38,000m3 per day seawater reverse osmosis (RO) plant located on the east of the main crescent of Palm Jumeirah. It now supplies desalinated water to the developments on Palm Jumeirah including the Atlantis Hotel, constructed by Nakheel and resort developer Kerzner International.
The second project was to build a wastewater treatment plant at the Dubai Metals and Commodities Centre, also an Istithmar group company. The plant has a capacity of 40,000m3 per day, expandable to 60,000m3 per day, and uses membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology to produce an effluent suitable for reuse. The estimated value of the two projects is $60 million.
As Palm Island’s population grows and demand increases, a further seawater reverse osmosis plant of 35,000m3/d capacity and a 5,000m3/d wastewater treatment plant are planned. Istithmar and Hyflux are pursuing other water projects in the UAE and the wider Middle East market. Under the deal, Istithmar acquired a 10% holding in Hyflux with an option to increase its stake to 20%.
Abu Dhabi and Northern Emirates
In Abu Dhabi and the Northern Emirates there are also major power and desalination projects under construction.
Abu Dhabi is investing U$20 billion over the next 10 years with plans to double its water production capacity from 630 MIG to 1200 MIG per day. The state-owned agency is shelling out US$1.3bn for the expansion of its five existing desalination plants; one is scheduled for completion this year, the remaining by 2010. According to projections made by the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Agency (Adwea) demand for water in country is predicted to grow by 43 per cent in the next five years.
The five-year strategy set by Adwea – it is the solitary buyer and seller of electricity and water in the UAE’s capital – is to increase water production from its current 626 million gallons per day to 969 million gallons per day by 2013. The Umm Al Nar desalination plant currently produces 165 mg/d, the Taweelah plant (231mg/d), the Al Shuweihat (101 mg/d), the Al Fujairah (90mg/d) and the Al Marfa plant (39mg/d). Confirming that increased water demand was a result of the changes in land ownership laws during 2005, Keith Miller, Adwec head of planning and studies department, told a recent conference: “The development boom will require significant quantities of extra electricity and water capacity over and above the normal developments assumed in past Adwec demand forecasts." The agency says that it expects a 33.25 per cent increase in demand. By the end of 2011, three new desalination plants at Ras Al Khaimah and two in Ajman – with a total daily output of 30 MIG. – will be in operation.
Israel Ashkelon
In its common objective with other countries in the region to overcome water scarcity, Israel developed and launched its Desalination Master Plan in 2000 which called for the building of a number (three) of plants along the Mediterranean coast to enable 400 million cubic metres of desalinated water per year to be produced for urban consumption within the first five years, with future supplies rising to 750 million cubic metres per year by 2020.
In September of 2001, the contract for the first of these large-scale seawater desalination facilities – the Ashkelon plant – was awarded on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis with the plant being transferred to the Israeli government at he end of the 25 year period. By December of 2005 both the North and the South plants were completed on the massive 75,000 sq m. site.
Built by VID – a special purpose joint venture company of IDE Technologies, Veolia and Dankner-Ellern Infrastructure – the total project cost approximately US$250m. The three-centre design model adopted for this RO treatment facility involved arranging the high pressure pumps, energy recovery devices and membrane banks so that they could each operate independently and flexibly.
In 2006 the Ashkelon plant was voted the “Desalination Plant of the Year” in the Global Water Awards, mainly as a result of it delivering, only a year after beginning production, its first 100 million cubic metres of water. It now produces some 320,000 cubic metres of water per day -13% of Israel’s domestic demand – at one of the world’s lowest prices for desalinated water: $0.52/m3.
However, concerns over the effects of desalination can have on the environment were revealed in a Gulf News report revealed in June. It stated that each day, over 64 tonnes of antiscalant, 23 tonnes of chlorine and almost 300kg of copper are pumped back into the Arabian Gulf from desalination plants around the region. Leon Awerbuch, past president of the International Desalination Association speaking at the announcement of the future International Desalination Association (IDA) World Congress, which will take place in Dubai in November, said impacts were not "dramatic" in this region, although more studies were needed.
He commented: "Daily production in the UAE is 8.4 million cubic metres of water and The Gulf is clearly using more water than in any other part of the world but cost and energy consumption is being reduced." He added that the worse impact was copper and this could accumulate in the marine environment. "Chemicals for antiscalants and antifouling are all approved by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] and are biodegradable," he added.
Conclusion
Desalination technology has without question, been the saviour of many parts of the Middle East and the Gulf, however, its environmental impact in the region is now coming under scrutiny and becoming of significant concern to governments, plant operators and environmental groups. Such is the anxiety that this will be the focus of a major conference of the International Desalination Association (IDA) World Congress, which will take place in Dubai in November this year.
Although cost and energy consumption to operate desalination plants are being reduced, experts say that marine environments could be seriously affected by chemicals used in the water production process, with copper accumulation the most impactive. While no-one can dispute the need for water in this region, the wider environmental effect must be considered.
Contact:
Norrie Hunter
Email: norriehmedia@yahoo.com
GE Water
Few companies have such a commitment to the Middle East and North Africa as GE Energy and their subsidiary, GE Water, with its base in Dubai. Within the UAE, the company is involved in many desalination and waste water reuse projects. Included are the commissioning, this year, of wastewater reuse plants for the Dubai Sports City, Dubai Canal City, TECOM Studio City, International Media Production Zone, and 2 MBR temporary plants for Jebel Ali Free Zone. These projects see treated effluent being used for irrigation. The company has also been involved in desalination projects on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, providing potable water for labour camps involved in the construction of Saadiyat Island.
Mohamed Vaid, senior marketing manager of GE Water in Dubai said: “With all the wastewater reuse projects that we have been involved with, we feel like we are having a very positive impact on the environment by reducing the need for desalinated potable water for irrigation and district cooling. Additionally, most of these wastewater plants have the capability of handling waste water from outside of the primary development they are being built for, thus creating capacity that can be utilised in the event that the Dubai Municipality waste treatment facilities are running over capacity.”
As part of its growing commitment to providing water solutions for the Middle Eastern countries, GE Energy has opened its second water technology centre, this time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Following on from the recent opening of its first such facility in Dubai, the new $10 million GE Saudi Water & Processing Technology Centre at Damman is similarly aimed at providing critical water solutions for industrial customers here and in the wider region. The centre – a joint venture between GE and Al Tamimi Group, a Saudi engineering and construction company – incorporates a blending plant for water treatment chemicals while offering local and regional customers advanced water, water reuse, wastewater and processing solutions. The new facility also will serve the municipal water and wastewater sector.
Since the mid 1930s, GE has played a critical role in the development of Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, investing in the region and supplying technology and services to address such needs as water management and power generation.
Recent GE Energy projects include Marafiq, reckoned to be the world’s largest independent water and power project with the capacity to produce more than 2.7 GW of power and 800,000 m3/day of desalinated water.
Among its key projects are the Al Tamimi “GET Water” Partnership where GE is providing a fleet of mobile water treatment systems to Al Tamimi Group for the rapid deployment of onsite treatment systems for both sea water and brackish water treatment, water reuse and water filtration -over 60 mobile units are currently in operation, with each unit capable of treating up to 1,500 m3 of water per day.
In partnership with the ConocoPhillips Water Sustainability Centre (WSC) in Qatar, GE Water is working to develop more efficient and cost-effective treatment technologies and will research and develop water solutions primarily for the petroleum and petrochemical sectors and also will focus on municipal and agricultural solutions.
In Jeddah, the company supplied a 300-bed facility and an advanced membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment system (it treats 250 m3/day of wastewater to reduce freshwater usage) at the International Medical Centre.