1 / 30

Clive Lipchin, PhD and Shmuel Brenner, PhD Arava Institute for Environmental Studies arava

The Emergence of Desalination Technologies as a Means of Augmenting Water Supply and Ameliorating Conflict in the Middle East. Clive Lipchin, PhD and Shmuel Brenner, PhD Arava Institute for Environmental Studies www.arava.org. Water Stress Worldwide: 1995-2025. Source: UNEP, GRID,

dewitt
Download Presentation

Clive Lipchin, PhD and Shmuel Brenner, PhD Arava Institute for Environmental Studies arava

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Emergence of Desalination Technologies as a Means of Augmenting Water Supply and Ameliorating Conflict in the Middle East Clive Lipchin, PhD and Shmuel Brenner, PhD Arava Institute for Environmental Studies www.arava.org

  2. Water Stress Worldwide: 1995-2025 Source: UNEP, GRID, Arendal, Oswald

  3. SOURCES OF WATER 3 Major Sources: • Jordan River System / Kinneret • Mountain Aquifer • Coastal Aquifer

  4. Chronic Water Scarcity For Reference: <1000 m3/cap/yr - Water Poor <500 m3/cap/yr - Chronic Water Scarcity U.S. => 9,710 m3/cap/yr World average 7,000 m3/cap/yr Israel => 270-300 m3/cap/yr (340 w/sewage) Jordan => 230 m3/cap/yr (245 w/sewage) Palestinians => 95 m3/cap/yr Lebanon => 1,300 m3/cap/yr

  5. ME Water Resources – Water Crisis Water level of the mountain aquifer

  6. Water Culture in the ME • Israel • Western/Zionist Attitudes • Technological Optimism • Hegemony of Agriculture (national level) • Water as a commodity (public ownership, privatization) • Despite scarcity, little public input in decision making

  7. WATER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK • All Water is Property of the State • National Water Commission (NWC) Allocates Water to Users • NWC Has Responsibility to Allocate “in the Public’s Interest”

  8. Potable water consumption by purpose in percentages (Source: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, 2004)

  9. Inherent Water Problems • Global climate change • Increasing standard of living = Rising demand • Commitments to the neighbors • Deterioration of water quality • Overexploitation of surface and ground waters • Pricing

  10. The Promise of Desalination Seawater/brackish water Drinking water

  11. Office of the Governor of Texas SAN ANTONIO -Gov. Rick Perry today called for the construction of the state's first large-scale ocean water desalination plant as one step toward securing an abundant water supply to meet Texas' future needs……… Press Release -April 29, 2002

  12. Time-Series of Global Desalination Capacity, January 2005 The bars show annual new installed capacity, and the line shows cumulative installed capacity. Source: Cooley, H. et. al. (2006) Desalination with a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective. Pacific Institute

  13. Countries with More Than 1% of Global Desalination Capacity, January 2005 Source: Cooley, H. et. al. (2006) Desalination with a Grain of Salt: A California Perspective. Pacific Institute

  14. The Promise of Desalination • Efficient technology • MSF/RO • Good quality product • Drinking water • The price is right • $0.50/cubic meter • But… desalination is an industrial process

  15. Seawater desalination capacity in cbm/day in the Mediterranean basin

  16. Desalination is an Industrial Process • Inputs • Seawater/brackish water • Energy • Outputs • Waste/brine • Air Emissions • Externalities • Coastal/inland impact • Noise pollution • So…there are costs as well as benefits Reverse Osmosis Membrane Units Source: Halcrow Water Services http://www.hwsdesalination.com/Membrane%20Desalination.html

  17. Ashkelon Desalination Plant • Largest Seawater RO plant in the world • A cost of $220,000,000 to construct • 100 mcm capacity • Drinking water at a price of approximately 2.6 NIS ($0.57 USD) per cubic meter • BOT principle • Eventually desalination will provide approximately 15 percent of Israel’s household water supply.

  18. The Benefits of Desalination • Good quality cheap drinking water • A technological option for augmenting water shortages • Can ameliorate water conflicts • Water needs versus water rights

  19. International Water Transfers: Israel and the Palestinians

  20. Another Example: The Dead Sea is Shrinking

  21. Shoreline today Shoreline in 1984

  22. Technological optimism: Desalination to the Rescue The Red-Dead Canal or Peace Conduit

  23. The Red-Dead Canal or Peace Conduit

  24. But…What About the Costs? • Desalination is energy costly • Air emissions • Waste products • Highly saline brine • Plume density • Chemicals • Temperature (MSF) • Site of discharge • Plant location • Large • Coast is crowded and over developed • Interactions • Other users of the coast (tourism, fisheries) • Public Disturbances • Noise

  25. An Integrated Approach is Required Critical Nature of Project Source: Hull, R., Belluck, D. Lipchin, C. (2005) A Framework for Multi-Criteria Decision-Making With Special Reference to Critical Infrastructure. In: Ecotoxicology, Ecological Risk Assessment and Multiple Stressors (Arapsis, G., Goncharova, N., Baveye, P. eds.). Springer, Netherlands

  26. An Integrated Approach is Required • Desalination is supply oriented • Status quo is maintained i.e.: water for agriculture • No need to confront the public • What about demand management? • Other water reuse options? • Rethink water policy in the region • Agriculture • Industry • Domestic • Nature

  27. An Integrated Approach is Required • Desalination’s contribution to ME cooperation must be carefully explored • Needs versus rights • Technological optimism • Affordability • Environmental impact • Alternatives Source: Walk Against Warming, Sydney Australia, Dec. 3rd 2005 http://www.walkagainstwarming.org/

More Related