Desalination: a viable supplemental source of water for the arid states of North Africa

Abstract

The population of the states of North Africa (NA) will increase from 150 million in 2000 to about 250 million in 2025 with a corresponding increase in water demand for municipal, industrial and agricultural purposes. With this demand rapidly exceeding the water resources capacities, these states will soon face water shortages with serious adverse impacts on the sustainability of the region's environment and development. Desalination provides an alternate source of water which is reliable and readily available to the region's states. Desalination technologies have been in use in the region since the early seventies with a total installed capacity of over one million cubic meters per day presently. Cost factors have limited the uses of desalination to municipal and industrial applications. However, recent advances in desalination technologies have made desalination more competitive with new hard-to-find conventional water resources. The objective of this paper is to assess the potential of desalination as a viable alternate water source for the NA states through analysis of the water supply and demand situation in the region and the experience gained in desalination process applications. The future trends and challenges associated with water shortages and the desalination technologies potential in the region are discussed leading to conclusions and recommendations regarding the role of desalination as a viable supplemental source of water that will be progressively more feasible and cost effective particularly for satisfying the needs of the urban coastal communities in the region.