Transcript The Emergence of Desalination Technologies as a Means of

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,
Arendal, Oswald
SOURCES OF WATER
3 Major Sources:
Jordan River System / Kinneret
Mountain Aquifer
Coastal Aquifer
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
ME Water Resources – Water
Crisis
Water level of the mountain aquifer
Water Supply and Demand in the Middle East (Israel, PA, Jordan)
Data Source: Tahal
8000
7000
6000
mcm/year
5000
Supply
4000
Demand
3000
2000
1000
0
2000
2010
Year
2040
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
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”
Potable water consumption by purpose in
percentages (Source: Israel Central Bureau
of Statistics, 2004)
1983
1993
2003
Agriculture
71
64
56
Domestic
23
29
38
Industry
6
7
6
Total
100
100
100
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
The Promise of Desalination
Seawater/brackish water
Drinking water
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
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
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
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
Seawater desalination capacity in
cbm/day in the Mediterranean
basin
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/Membran
e%20Desalination.html
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.
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
International Water Transfers:
Israel and the Palestinians
Another Example:
The Dead Sea is
Shrinking
Shoreline
today
Shoreline
in 1984
Technological optimism:
Desalination to the Rescue
The Red-Dead Canal or Peace Conduit
The Red-Dead Canal or Peace
Conduit
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
An Integrated Approach is
Required
Management Goal
Management Decision
Mitigation
Technology
Weighting
Communication/
Consultation
Critical
Nature of
Project
Social/cultural
Politics
Risk
Assessment
Economics
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
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
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/