This document discusses water resources in the GCC region and Egypt. It notes that the GCC has only 1% of the world's renewable water resources to support 5% of the global population. Desalination is critical to meeting water demand, with 60% of global desalination capacity located in the Middle East. The document outlines various desalination technologies used, including multi-stage flash distillation, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis. It also discusses wastewater treatment and reuse in the region.

1. Introduction: Water in the World,
GCC, and Qatar
Mohamed Darwish
Jan. 12, 2017

2. Agenda
• Distribution of Earth’s Water
• Desalination Technologies in Use
• Water Inventory in Egypt
• Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
• Energy Consumptions Related to Water
– Energy Required for Desalination
– Energy Required for WWT
– Energy Required for GW
• Wastewater as a Desalination Feed Source
• Conclusions

3. Distribution of Earth’s Water
• 71% of the earth’s surface
is covered by water (1,386
Mkm3)
• Very small amount of the
Earth's water is freshwater
that can be used directly.
• It is very important not to
waste or pollute it.
0.03% Only

4. Freshwater Availability

5. Groundwater Availability
Middle East region has 5% of the world’s population but
only 1% of the world’s renewable water resources

6. Water Resources in Egypt
• Nile River
– Is the main (almost exclusive) source of fresh water in Egypt.
– The Nile water agreement with Sudan, allocates 55.5
BCM/year to Egypt.
– This amount is guaranteed by the multi-year regulatory
capacity provided by the High Aswan Dam (HAD).
• Rainfall
– Rainfall in Egypt occurs only in winter in the form of scattered
showers.
– The average annual amount of rainfall water is estimated to
be 1.3 BCM/year.
– This amount cannot be considered a reliable source of water
due to high spatial and temporal variability.

7. Water Resources in Egypt
• Groundwater
– Groundwater exists in Western Desert and Sinai in
aquifers that are mostly deep and non-renewable
(up to 1500 m in some areas).
– The total groundwater volume has been estimated
at about 40,000 BCM.
– Current abstraction is estimated to be 2.0
BCM/year.
– The main obstacles in utilizing this huge resource
are the great depths of these aquifers and
deteriorating water quality at the increasing
depths.

8. Water Resources in Egypt
• Shallow Groundwater
– Shallow Groundwater in the Nile aquifer cannot
be considered a separate source of water.
– The aquifer is recharged only by seepage losses
from the Nile, the irrigation canals and drains
from irrigated lands. Hence, its yield must not
be added to Egypt’s total water resources with
only 7.5 BCM/year recharge.
– The current abstraction from this aquifer is
estimated at 6.5 BCM in 2013.

9. Water Resources in Egypt
• Desalination
– Seawater desalination of in Egypt has been given low priority
as a water resource because the cost of treatment is high
compared with other sources.
– Desalination is actually practiced in the Red Sea coastal area
to supply tourism villages and resorts with adequate
domestic water supply where the economic value of the
water is high enough to cover the treatment costs.
– Other groundwater desalination units are utilized at several
locations in Sinai as a water supply for Bedouins.
– However, extensive utilization of desalination as fresh water
resource in Egypt will depend on technological development
in this field.

10. Water Resources in Egypt
• Treated domestic sewage
– Treated domestic sewage is being reused for
irrigation with or without blending with fresh
water.
– The increasing demands for domestic water will
increase the total amount of sewage available
for reuse.
– It is estimated that the total quantity of reused
treated wastewater in Egypt is about 0.3 BCM in
2013.

11. Water Resources in Egypt
• Reuse of Non-Conventional Water
– Reuse of non-conventional water sources such as agricultural
drainage water and treated sewage water cannot be added
to Egypt’s fresh water resources.
– The amount of water that returns to drains from irrigated
lands is relatively high (about 25 to 30%).
– The total amount of reused water is estimated to be 13 BCM
in 2013.
– The reuse practices increase the overall water utilization
efficiency.
– In fact, using these sources is a recycling process of the
previously used Nile fresh water in such a way that improves
the overall efficiency of the water distribution system.
Source: Water Scarcity in Egypt: The Urgent Need for Regional Cooperation among the Nile Basin Countries, Ministry of Water Resources
and Irrigation, Egypt, February 2014.

12. Desalination Technologies in Use
MembraneTherma
l

13. Desalted Water Demand

14. Global Desalination Capacities (m3/d)
Sustainability Science and Engineering, Volume 2, Pages 1-416 (2010), Sustainable Water for the Future: Water
Recycling versus Desalination, Edited by Isabel C. Escobar and Andrea I. Schäfer, ISBN: 978-0-444-53115-5

15. • Of the more than 12,500 desalination plants
in operation or in construction worldwide,
60% are located in the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA).
• Desalination is no longer a marginal water
resource, as some countries such as Qatar
and Kuwait rely 100% on desalinated water
for domestic and industrial use.

16. Desalination Drivers: Feed Water and
Energy
• Energy consumption is the main driver of
desalination industry.
• The higher the salinity of the feed water the
higher the required energy.
• SWRO specific energy consumption is about
3.5 kWh/m3 for seawater salinity of 35,000
ppm and can go up to 6.0 kWh/m3 for Gulf
seawater (salinity of 57,000 ppm)

17. • There is clear correlation between access to
safe water and GDP per capita.
• More than 50% of population by 2025 will
facing water-based vulnerability.
• It is the hope that desalination economy can
be improved to bridge the gap between the
freshwater demand and resources.
17

18. Estimate of global water distribution
Water source Water volume (m3) % of freshwater % of total water
Oceans, seas, and bays 1,338,000,000 — 97.5
Ice caps, glaciers,
and permanent snow 24,064,000 68.6 1.74
Groundwater 23,400,000 — 1.7
Fresh 10,530,000 30.1 0.76
Saline 12,870,000 — 0.93
Soil moisture 16,500 0.05 0.001
Ground ice and
Permafrost 300,000 0.86 0.022
Lakes 176,400 — 0.013
Fresh 91,000 0.26 0.007
Saline 85,400 — 0.007
Atmosphere 12,900 0.04 0.001
Swamp water 11,470 0.03 0.0008
Rivers 2,120 0.006 0.0002
Biological water 1,120 0.003 0.0001
18

19. Aggregated global gap between existing accessible, reliable supply and
2030 water withdrawals, assuming no efficiency gains
19

20. The increase of annual water demands in different parts of the world between 2005-2030
There is gap between available and demands
20

21. Desalination, although costly, is among the methods used to close this gap 21

22. Water in GCC
• GCC and Yemen located in 2.8 M km2 of land
• Extremely arid land with scarce rainfall(100
mm/y) &high evaporation rate(3000 mm/y)
22

23. Average share
(m3/capita)
Country/ Sub-Region Natural Water
Resources (Mm3)
2010 2030 2050
Bahrain 116 92 70 64
Kuwait 20 7 5 4
Oman 1400 503 389 374
Qatar 58 33 24 22
Saudi Arabia 2400 87 62 53
United Arab Emirates 150 20 14 12
GCC 4144 95 68 59
Yemen 2100 87 51 34
GCC and Yemen 6244 92 61 47
Renewable water resources and per capita share in
the GCC countries and Yemen
23

24. Total renewable water resources in 1992, 2002 and 2011 in
m3/y.ca
24

25. Water world regions characterization
• water surplus > 1000 m3 /(y.Ca)
• water abundant, 4000-1000 m3 /(y.Ca)
• adequate, 1700-4000 m3 /(y.Ca)
• water stress, < 1700 m3 /(y.Ca)
• water scarcity, < 1000 m3/(y.Ca)
• Absolute water stress, < 500 m3 /(y.Ca) and
• Minimum survival level, < 100 m3 /(y.Ca)
• GCC has water stress, 20m3/(y.Ca), severe
problem, reusing WW, overexploiting GW
aquifers, desalting seawater
25

26. Characteristi
cs
Thresho
ld
Situation
Water
Surplus
>10000 Sustainability of water after fulfilling the needs of all
aspects of the economy
Water
Abundant >
>4000-
10000
Able to cater to the needs of all sectors of the economy and
also for the future
Adequate >1700-
4000
Water sufficient to meet the present needs of the economy
Water
Scarcity
<1000 Frequent Water shortages both short term and long term
Absolute
water stress
<500 The region completes its water supply by desalting
seawater and over exploiting aquifers
Minimum
Survival level
<100 Water supply for industry and commercial purpose is
compromised so as to fulfill demand for all other uses
Water stress >20 Severe water supply problems, Reusing waste water,
overexploiting aquifers (by 2-30 times), desalinating
seawater
Threshold Values: Water stress within a region (m3/(y.Ca),
26

27. GCC Water
• Water essential to for grow food, household uses, and
industry.
• Water scarcity in GCC pose severe challenges, e.g.
• High costs produced DW and treated WW, tap non-
renewable GW, deplete and polluted GW, degraded soil
in farms,
• Wasteful use existed water supplies, encouraged by
high subsidies and distorted incentives.
• SA suffers biggest gap between renewable W supply
and demand
• Only 2.4 km3/y of renewable resources, yet manages
to use 23.67 km3/y, almost ten times
27

28. Freshwater shortfall in the GCC, Libya and Yemen
28

29. GCC countries population growth since 1960 that
increases water demands 29

30. Groundwater (GW) resources in GCC
• GW: main FW source in GCC countries
• GW contained in shallow and deep aquifers
• Shallow aquifers recharged with 3.5 Bm3/y good
renewable GW by surface run-off and precipitation,
have 20–200 m thickness.
• Shallow GCC (and Yemen) aquifer capacity 131 Bm3
• Deep aquifers capacity 2,175 Bm3, (about 1920 Bm3)
in in SA
• Deep aquifer recharge quite low, about 2.7 Mm3/y
• GW mainly used for agriculture (about 21 Bm3/y).
• Renewable (3.5 shallow+2.7)
30

31. Country/ Sub-
Region
Withdrawal Agriculture Industry Domestic
million m3
Bahrain 400 180 24 196
Kuwait 900 486 18 396
Oman 1300 1144 26 130
Qatar 400 236 8 156
Saudi Arabia 23700 20856 711 2133
United Arab
Emirates
4000 3320 80 600
GCC 30,700 26222 867 3615
Yemen 3600 3276 72 252
GCC and Yemen 34,300 29498 939 3863
GW withdrawal and uses of natural water (2009) in the GCC 31

32. Country/ Sub-Region All
Uses
(%)
Agriculture
use (%)
Bahrain 344.8 155
Kuwait 4500 2500
Oman 92.3 82
Qatar 689.6 407
Saudi Arabia 987.5 869
United Arab Emirates 2666.6 2213
GCC 740 633
Yemen 171.9 156
GCC and Yemen 549.3 472
Water withdrawal in GCC as percent of annual FW resources (2009),32

33. Agricultural use of water in the GCC countries as % of
total consumption, 2003–2007 33

34. Rising number of farms in Qatar with the proportion of abandoned
farms stabilizing
34

35. Water demand forecast for the GCC countries until 2050
35

36. Renewable fresh water,
water withdrawal, and
desalted water in the Arab
countries including the
GCC countries
36

37. Wastewater (WW) in GCC
• Municipal WW to be treated anyway to lower the harmful compounds
conc. in WW before it is discharged to sea or land.
• Additional treatment is needed for be reused in agriculture, or other
application.
• Water reuse combines the benefits of freshwater conservation, GW
protection, and total water supply augmentation.
• Very limited amount of total withdrawal to be treated in the GCC.
• Thus, more WW to be additionally treated and reused, rather dumped.
• Recycled water, or reclaimed treated WW effluent, guaranteed valuable
water source, grows with population increase,
• Reclaimed WW can be high % of domestic water reuse (80% in Israel).
• All WW should e treated
• Qatar lacks the infrastructure to deliver recycled water to every potential
user.
37

38. Countries Total water
withdrawal (109
m3/ y)
Total
wastewater
produced (109
m3/ y)
Volume of
treated
wastewater
(109 m3/ y)
Volume of
Treated water
reused (109
m3/ y)
Saudi Arabia 23.67 in 2006 0.73 0.652 0.166
Bahrain 0.3574 0.0449 0.076 0.0163
Egypt 68.3 3.76 2.971 0.7
United Arab
Emirates
3.998 0.5 0.454 0.248
Iraq 66 0.575 0.098 0.0055
Libya 4.326 0.546 0.04 0.04
Jordan 0.941 0.117 0.111 0.102
Kuwait 0.913 0.25 0.239 0.078
Oman 1.321 0.098 0.037 0.0023
Qatar 0.55 0.444 0.066 0.043
West Bank &
Gaza
0.418 0.05 0.03 0.00544
Yemen 3.4 0.074 0.046 0.06
Water withdrawal, WW produced, treated WW, Reused WW
38

39. Cost Range for Water Reuse, (World Bank, 2012)
39

40. Desalted Seawater (DW)
• DW in the GCC of better than drinking water quality, main source
for municipal water (MW) in most GCC.
• Qatar MW is 99% of DW, SA MW is 66% DW
• Directly or blended with low % of GW (1% in Qatar, 4% in Kuwait).
• DW only option in many GCC to secure MW
• DW very expensive, consume too much energy.
• DW transported long distance from East to Riyad by pumping
energy
• At 2011, DW capacity in the GCC (in Mm3/d) 12.5 in SA, 9.5 in UAE,
1.7 in Kuwait, 1.9 in Qatar, 1.6 in Oman and 1.4 in Bahrain.
• In 2010, DW GCC capacity was 39% of world capacity, with 68%
thermally operated processes, and 32% SWRO.
40

41. Desalination capacity by
technology in the GCC
(DesalData, 2013)
41

42. Single Effect Boiling Desalination System
42

43. Flash evaporation (boiling) and condensation in single multi
stage flash (MSF 43

44. Electro-dialysis Desalting Process for Brackish Water
44

45. Reverse Osmosis Desalting Process, most used world wide
45

46. 46

47. Multi Stage Flash (MSF) desalination System
Capacity/unit 20 MIGD, TBT=110C, Recirculation rate R=7-11D, Feed F=3D,
cooling SW=6-8 D, Steam supplt at 117-120C
47

48. Cross tubes is the most used configuration.
48

49. Multi effect boiling desalting system
TBT=65C, T(steam)=70C, GR less but close to n, Cooling water =6D, F/D 3D
49

50. 50

51. COMPRESSOR
EVAPORATOR
HEAT EXCHANGER
DISTILLATE
PUMP
RECIRCULATION
PUMP
PRODUCT
FEEDWATER
BLOWDOWN
TUBE BANK
51

52. 52

53. Cooling
Water Mc
Distillate D
Motive Steam S
Condensate
Vapor Dr
Mc-F
F
D
D -Dr
condenser
Single Effect Thermal Vapor (TVC) Desalting Unit
Feed F
Brine Blow-down
B= F - D
D
53

54. Multi Effect thermal vapor compression system 54

55. Combined multi effect TVC and multi effect conventional
ME, Umm Al-Nar ME-TVC unit. 55

56. Al Taweelah A1 IWPP – Abu Dhabi 2006 MED – 240,000 m³/d (53
MIGD), 14 unitsx3.77 MIGD, each unit has 5 effects, and 8 GR
56

57. ME-TVC plant 48,000 m3/d (4 units) at Jamnagar, India [I.D.E.]
57

58. 58

59. 59

60. 60

61. 61