Saudi Desalination Plant Promises Cheaper Water

In a region dependent on fossil fuel-driven desalination plants, Saudi Arabia hopes to significantly reduce the cost of producing potable water from the salty waters of the Gulf with the Gulf’s first solar-powered desalination plant. If successful, the Saudi example could encourage other oil and sun-rich Gulf states, who rank among the world’s biggest carbon emitters, to reduce their emissions by building similar plants..

The solar-powered plant is being built by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the epicenter of the kingdom’s efforts to break its puritan Islamic mould in a bid to ensure technological and economic development, and IBM, which has made water one of its key areas of focus.

“The culmination of our joint research initiatives has enabled us to radically reduce the cost of water through the development of nanotechnologies that revolutionize traditional desalination methods and renewable energy sources,” Takreem el Tohamy, IBM general manager for the Middle East and North Africa, told The National.

Traditional desalination plants in Saudi Arabia produce a cubic meter of water at a relatively high cost of $.067 to $1.47 compared to Singapore cubic meter and the United States, whose cost can be as little as $0.46 per cubic meter.

Located in Al Khafji, the solar-powered will also reduce cost by employing membranes instead of boiling processes to remove the salt from seawater, IBM and KACST said in a statement.IBM announced last year it had developed a new energy-eficient membrane that has a longer lifespan than previous materials. The Al Khafji plant will generate fresh water by pushing seawater through membranes to remove the salt. The solar component of the plant will produce the electricity needed to drive the machinery.

The project’s scale will overshadow pilot solar desalination plants that have been built in a number of Gulf countries, including a plant that opened in Abu Dhabi’s Al Gharbia region last year with a daily capacity of 68.2 cubic meters. Gulf countries have been trying to build cost-effective solar desalination plants for decades. Abu Dhabi built a plant at Umm al Nar in the 1980s, but it proved to be economically infeasible.

IBM and KACST predict the cost reduction despite the fact that the new plant will use electricity from concentrated solar technology that produces power at a cost many times higher than power stations fired by natural gas or oil. Electricity will come from concentrated photovoltaics, a technology that blends traditional photovoltaic cells with mirrors, lenses and motors to concentrate the rays of sun, thereby more than doubling the efficiency of the panels.

The technology is significantly more expensive than traditional photovoltaic cells alone but takes up less space and operates better in hot climates. The increased cost of using electricity from solar panels at Al Khafji will be offset by the vast efficiency gains of using the new membranes rather than heat to take the salt out of seawater.

Libya Set to Benefit from Strained Turkish-Israeli Ties

Libya may benefit from Turkey’s strained ties with Israel over its December 2008 war on Gaza and recent Israeli treatment of the Turkish ambassador. Libya is negotiating with Turkey the import of 100 million cubic meters of water annually. Turkish officials say an agreement with Libya would jeopardize far advanced talks with Israel over the sale of water.

Turkish officials say both Libya and Israel are seeking to buy water from a $150 millon project on the Manavagat River that has yet to come on stream. That project is currently only able to load 100 million cubic meters per year. Adding additional capacity would be costly.

Israel has been negotiating the purchase of 50 million cubic meters of water annually over a period of 20 years. Turkish officials say three Israeli prime ministers have committed Israel to the purchase. They said the Turkish and Israeli governments intend to agree with shipping companies on the transport of the water to Israel.

Despite the commitments, authorities in Israel are divided about the deal. The country’s Water Authority is believed to favor it as a way of diversifying away from desalination. The Foreign Ministry, however, opposes the deal on financial grounds. Imported Turkish water would cost $0.80 per cubic meter compared to $0.50 for desalinated water.

Israeli officials, eager to secure the deal before Libya snatches it away, say the differences are likely to be resolved by splitting the contract into two, one between the two governments and one between Turkey and Israel’s water carrier.

Free water-saving devices for UAE homes

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates in cooperation with environmental NGOs have launched a national campaign to reduce water wastage, they estimate to be 250 liters per day per person or almost half of estimated daily consumption. The UAE has one of the world’s highest consumption rates per person with an average of 550 liters per person a day.

To reduce wastage, the government is providing free of charge water saving devices to 55,000 households, 2,750 mosques, 500 schools and 2,000 public or commercial buildings. The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi will install water saving devices in 60,000 buildings in the emirate. The campaign urges consumers to reduce consumption by avoiding leaving taps running while brushing teeth, shaving or washing dishes, limiting showers to five minutes and using a bucket and sponge to wash cars rather than a hose pipe. The campaign is also designed to reduce the UAE’s dependence on desalination, which provides virtually all of the UAE’s drinking water and accounts for 36 percent of the country’s carbon emissions.

Water For Haiti

Pieter Glieck of the Pacifica Institute warns that lack of water constitutes one of, if not, the biggest threat to Haitians in the wake of the earthquake. He suggests on the website of The San Francisco Chronicle:

In any disaster like this, after search, rescue, and immediate medical care, clean and safe water becomes a critical need. Without it, water-related diseases rapidly become a serious health threat for the survivors.

Water Number: 50 liters per person per day. In previous work I've done on basic human needs, I've identified 50 liters per person per day as a minimum for drinking, sanitation, cooking, and cleaning. In a disaster of this magnitude, even a fraction of that amount would be a blessing. Emergency water supplies can be provided in many ways, but there is no consistent approach or technology. Here are some that should be applied quickly:

-- Some space on the first cargo planes should be reserved for small-scale desalination systems and other water purification plants that can be put in place immediately in centralized locations. Systems that fit on pallets, that in turn fit on transport planes, should be available. Water (such as bottled water) itself is very heavy. Best to send the equipment to purify unlimited amounts on the ground. Also send the solar energy systems, diesel generators, and other energy systems needed to operate them 24/7.

-- Big US Navy ships have desalination systems on board. When the US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrives (as news reports suggest it will), the ship's water system -- capable of producing water for thousands of people every day -- should be tied in to some kind of land distribution system so people can come and collect safe water. Other ships with such capability should also be used in this way.

-- It would have been nice to have pre-positioned some large water bags, such as the innovative Spragg Bag, that could be flown to the country, or to neighboring Dominican Republic, filled with freshwater, and towed to Haiti for distribution. Alas, this technology is still searching for angel funders, though similar bags operated commercially for a number of years in the Mediterranean. These kinds of bags could also be used to store water on land as it is produced by water purification plants.

-- Engineers should begin immediately to evaluate and repair the basic water system. In Haiti, this system has always been marginal and limited, but the purification and wastewater systems needs immediate attention.

-- I believe that both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have relationships with bottlers in Haiti. If so, their teams should work (as no doubt they are) to repair bottling facilities in order to provide purified water to surrounding communities rather than other commercial drinks, during the emergency.

Bottled water should be shipped when space is available. As much as I've been known to criticize the bottled water industry (and I have a new book coming out shortly, called Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water, from Island Press, more about this a different time), some of the major bottled water companies have consistently been very generous during emergencies in making free water, or plastic bottles, available. The expertise of their water-quality engineers may also be valuable.