1. Carolyn Reitz UAE-Desalination
Intro Activity
y 8 g o r t p u

2. Water Facts Earth 97% saltwater
2% freshwater- locked in polar ice caps
1% freshwater- available
50% of fresh water is polluted

3. Types of Water Resources
FRESHWATER Surface water fed by precipitation- rivers/lakes
Ground water – renewable aquifers
Fossil water- non-renewable aquifers.

4. “Water stress”
Areas where water consumption is more than 10% of the renewable freshwater resources.

5. GEO- Global Environmental Outlook
33% of the world is currently classified as Moderate to High water stress

6. GEO predicts 50% of the world will be in Severe Water Stress by 2030.
The UAE is currently in High Water Stress

7. Groundwater - UAE
For every liter of rainfall, 25 liters are withdrawn from groundwater source
Available groundwater will last years

8. Water Needs WHO- Minimum to sustain life 1 gallon drinking water
1 gallon cooking/food prep
Urban use 26.4 gallons/day/person

9. UAE Water Consumption
145 gallons per person/
per day!!!!

10. Treated Wastewater
Recycled sewage water: water flushed down toilets or drains enters the sewage treatment plant and is processed to remove contaminants and disease causing microbes.
When treated wastewater is used for irrigation, it saves potable water for other purposes.
Irrigation with Wastewater

11. Water Utilization in the UAE
Consumer
Desalinated
Groundwater
Treated Wastewater
Agriculture
83%
17%
Municipalities
70%
15%
Industry 2%

12. Geography of Arabian Gulf
Also known as the Persian Gulf
Depth ranges from 114 ft to 500 ft
Fresh water from Tigris and Euphrates Rivers reduced by dams
25% more saline than other saltwater bodies

13. Drinking Water - UAE
100% Desalinated Water

14. DESALINATION
A process that removes salt from ocean water to make it potable.
It is prohibitively expense, for most countries, because of the amount of energy it uses.

15. Methods of Desalination
Thermal- Boil saltwater using fossil fuels
Most common method
Cost prohibitive, unless you have oil

16. Methods of Desalination
Reverse osmosis-- salt water is forced through a membrane which removes the salt
Uses less energy, and is kinder to the environment

17. Problems with Desalination
3 liters of saltwater = 1 liter drinking water
Brine produced is 50% more salty
Hyper-saline brine is creating a ‘desert’ in the Arabian Gulf, killing plant and marine life.
UAE has 70 Desalination plants
UAE produces and uses 14% of Earth’s desalinated water

18. Peak Salt
The more saline water is, the more expensive it becomes to extract the salt.
Peak Salt- the point at which desalination becomes economically unfeasible.

19. Deep Water Desalination
Used by Japan and Taiwan, water is extracted from 900 feet deep
No organic matter, no bacteria, more nutrients
Brine is distributed over a deeper, larger area
Less impact on marine ecology

20. Deep Water Desalination - UAE
Not an option in the Arabian Gulf- depth 450 feet
UAE is exploring Mobile Deep Water Bottling
Platform could be moved into Indian Ocean
Advantages of Deep Water Desalination
More expensive

21. Farid Benyahia New process to eliminate Brine completely
Uses carbon dioxide (created by burning fossil fuels in desalination process) and ammonia to turn brine into baking soda and calcium chloride
Sell the byproducts
Baking soda: household products, regulate Ph in wastewater
Calcium Chloride: preservative in canned goods, tanning leather

22. WASTEWATER In the UAE Sewage Treatment Urban 100% Rural 86%
60% of that treated wastewater is currently being reused for agricultural irrigation.

23. Wastewater Solutions for Drinking Water
Gates Kimmel interview "Poop Water"
Janicki Omniprocessor

24. Solutions for the UAE ?
“The biggest challenge for the UAE is not finding different water sources, but decreasing demand for it.” Amir Dakkak, Ecomena-2015
*UAE uses 145 gallons of desalinated water per day/per person