Two Water Provision Methods in Saudi Arabia - Assignment Example

Report on Comparison of Two Water Provision Methods in Saudi Arabia 0 Introduction The availability of wateris essential to the sustainable social and economic development in any country. The scarcity of water nowadays is becoming a global issue in the society in both the developing and developing countries. Water scarcity is defined as the condition whereby the provision of water cannot match the demand. Saudi Arabia is particularly destitute of the water due to its majority of regions being arid. In an arid country like Saudi Arabia with no perennial rivers, groundwater is the main, but limited resource that can be used in residential, industrial and agricultural areas to guarantee adequate supply of water. The rapid growth of the population is partly to blame for the increased water shortage in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is one of the notable examples whereby the water crisis is fast unfolding today. Its located in one of the driest areas that is covered with approximately more than 90% by deserts with very few lakes and rivers to obtain the fresh water in order to sustain a population of 25.7 million. Its average annual precipitation ranges from 80mm-140mm (Depledge 208). This report aims at comparing two feasible water provision methods that should be enacted in Saudi Arabia. The two proposed methods are water recycling and desalination with respect to basic two requirements, environmental impact and cost. Through the comparison and analysis, I will suggest which of the aforementioned methods best suites Saudi Arabia. 2.0 Presentation of the Water Provision Methods 2.1 Water Recycling Water recycling is the managing and treating of the industrial, agricultural or urban waste water with an objective of removing sediments, organic matters, chemicals, and among other impurities (Hussain, Ghulam, and Adnan 245). In order to efficiently and effectively produce water that can be controlled and used in Saudi Arabia, there are few rivers and lakes to provide the water. This therefore calls for water recycling as the feasible method to be used in this area. 2.2 Desalination Desalination is the process of removing dissolved solids or salts from water. It also involves getting rid of the organic, chemical or biological compounds. Desalination is majorly based on the membrane separation or thermal distillation technologies (Abd El Aleem 20) Desalination requires high energy and since Saudi Arabia has sufficient solar energy, oil and gas, then it’s the feasible method of water provision to be used in Saudi Arabia. 3.0 Requirements 3.1 Cost For any water supply in any region, cost is an essential ingredient to its success. Saudi Arabia in specific requires cost as a basic requirement to the provision of water. The main costs of the desalination costs are the capital costs that include the purchase of the facility, management and construction overheads, equipments, land, and the annual running costs. The annual running costs consist of the labor, chemicals, labor, consumables and the spare parts. Normally desalination is perceived as having high costs to the achievement of fresh water. However, with the development of the science and technology, the process has been very rapid. Energy-rich countries like Saudi Arabia can use desalination as a viable option for water provision. In the 1960s, it cost around $9.0/m3 to desalinate the seawater. Presently it costs approximately $1.0/m3 for the Multi Stage Flash process. Reverse Osmosis method is the most famous leading to the sharp decrease of $0.6/m3 for the brackish of the water desalination. This therefore shows a growing trend of reducing costs by 10-50%. The membrane technology is an amazing breakthrough in the water desalination that has led to the reduction of costs and more efficiency to getting the portable water, with the reduction through the 1990s in the cost price of more than 85% (Authman 20). Water recycling has a significant advantage in that it can reclaim water anywhere-it’s not limited to place. Therefore, the reduction of the cost of the water transportation can lead to the total decline of the costs of the water reduce in this location. Additionally, water recycling avoids the construction of the additional sewer equipments especially when using waste water for recycling. The costs of the water recycling in the Saudi Arabia to be approximately $0.13-.63/m3 due to its requirement of no or little transportation in order to lead to the reduction of the costs of the large conveyance and the treatment infrastructure (Turbak, and K.H. Al-Dhowalia 31). Water recycling is less energy-intensive, more cost-effective and more sustainable as compared to the desalination of water that has increasing transport costs. 4.2 Environmental Impact The desalination technologies can lead to the production of high quality of the water while demanding high energy. According to the Saudi Arabia and Desalination, 2011, Saudi Arabia is the rich-energy state that its desalination process requires large amounts of gas and oil in the production of fresh water. However, the process of desalination discharges carbon dioxide and other gases to the air that causes global warming. Additionally, the pumps lead to the production of large volumes of water into the desalination factories causing entrainment and impingement. Marine organisms that are near the desalination factories to some extent might be sucked up by the water intakes. This leads to the death of the marine organisms that are pulled into the pump in the event that they are exposed into the high temperatures or crushed by the high-pressure membranes. In furtherance to the supply of the locally controlled and reliable water, water recycling can have enormous benefits to the environment. For instance, some of the reclaimed water that is not totally cleaned can have relatively higher levels of the nutrients as compared to the portable water. The nitrogen can be an important ingredient to fertilize the plants. Similarly, wildlife, plants, and fish require sufficient amount of water in order to live and reproduce. Inadequate flows of water due to diversion towards urban, agricultural, and industrial purposes leading to the exacerbation of the quality of water and the health of ecosystems. Other benefits are decreased waste water discharge, and the enhanced riparian habitats and wetlands. 5.0 Conclusion Shortage of the water in the arid areas is normal and expected. However, the severe shortage of the water can have serious economic and social impacts. They will also led to the severe health problems and may even result to the economic collapse. Based on the above methods of water provision in Saudi Arabia, it’s evident that water recycling and desalination are technically feasible methods of combating the problem of water shortage. The fast development of technology in the modern age has led to the sharp decline of the cost of desalination. However, the cost of desalination still remains relatively higher when compared to the cost of water recycling. Water desalination process makes use of oil in order to produce freshwater. While oil is a fossil fuel that is non-renewable energy source, the environmental impact of the water recycling is considered better as compared to the desalination because recycling of the water can be a continuous process. 6.0 Recommendations While both water recycling and desalination are feasible methods to combat the problem of water shortage in this arid country (Saudi Arabia), water recycling can be considered as a relatively better option to the provision of water for the Saudi Arabia. Even though Saudi Arabia has sufficient amount of energy to support the desalination technology, the cost of desalination is relatively high. Moreover, desalination leads to the tremendous environmental impact such as negatively affecting the marine organisms and causing global warming to some extent due to the high energy demand. Generally, the process of water recycling is more feasible method in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the above solutions, Saudi Arabia can combat future water shortage through the following ways; reduction but in gradual the consumption in the sector of agriculture to the relatively safe level (Al-Saadi and Salem Odah 30). The level should be not more than the sum total of the renewable surface and the treated wastewater and the groundwater resources. Secondly, Saudi Arabia should ensure water conservation through televisions, public awareness programs, and other public media messages. Additionally, Saudi Arabia should take actions such as the use of the drip irrigation, increase the prices of the water and carry out drainage. Thirdly, Saudi Arabia should give priority to the government spending to the pumping and distribution facilities for the transportation of the waste water and construction of the wastewater treatment plants. Fourthly, Saudi Arabia should reserve some of the areas that are covered by the major aquifers for the future domestic use in case of the shortage of the domestic water supplies. The reserved parts should be relatively large enough especially those that are close to the major urban centers. Lastly, the government of Saudi Arabia should develop the water resources in the adjacent areas to the wadis and take advantage of the renewable surface and the groundwater in the old oases in the most efficient manner. Work Cited Abd El Aleem, F. A., K. A. Al-Sugair, and M. I. Alahmad. "Biofouling problems in membrane processes for water desalination and reuse in Saudi Arabia." International biodeterioration & biodegradation 41.1 (1998): 19-23. Al-Saadi, Salem Odah. “Analytical Study of Water Requirements in KSA for Next Twenty Years”.Senior Project, C.E. Dept., King Saud University. 2006: 19-67 Authman, M.N.. Water and Development Process in Saudi Arabia. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Tihama Press. (1983): 35-60. Depledge, Joanna. "Striving for no: Saudi Arabia in the climate change regime." Global Environmental Politics 8.4 (2008): 9-35. Hussain, Ghulam, and Adnan J. Al-Saati. "Wastewater quality and its reuse in agriculture in Saudi Arabia." Desalination 123.2 (1999): 241-251. Turbak, A.S. and K.H. Al-Dhowalia. “Contribution of Treated Wastewater in Solving Water Shortage Problems in Saudi Arabia (in Arabic).” King Saud University, Symposium on Wastewater Treatment Technology and Reuse, Riyadh. (1996): 14-33. Read More