Abstract
Problem statement: Kuwait is an arid country having per capita freshwater consumption of 485 l day-1. Almost the entire freshwater requirements are met through desalination. The water tariffs in the country are very low consequent to 60% subsidy provided by the government. The use of tertiary treated wastewater is restricted to irrigation and forestation; this leaves huge surplus that can be utilized for creation of shallow artificial aquifers. Approach: Remote sensing data provides information on existence of a paleo drainage network in north Kuwait which can be utilized for artificial recharge. Results: About 85% of treated wastewater which remains unutilized can be pumped into shallow aquifers creating future reserve. The shallow aquifers will also improve the soil moisture balance and shall support perennial vegetation, impeding dust transport. Conclusion: The pumping of tertiary treated wastewater into the paleo drainage network will create a future reserve besides improving the soil moisture index and vegetation cover in the area.
Highlights
Kuwait is located on the northwestern part of Arabian Gulf bordering Iraq in North and West and Saudi Arabia in South and southwest (Fig. 1)
The Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of brackish water is around 4000 pp m, it is used for landscaping and irrigation, while the TDS of water in north exceeds 130,000 pp m (Burdon and Al-Sharhan, 1968; Himada and El-Yaqubi, 1979), which makes it unfit for direct use
The discharge of tertiary treated waste water into the paleo drainage will facilitate recharge into shallow aquifer resulting in improved soil moisture content perennially which in turn can support a better vegetation cover
Summary
Kuwait is located on the northwestern part of Arabian Gulf bordering Iraq in North and West and Saudi Arabia in South and southwest (Fig. 1). Waste water in Kuwait: The present tertiary treated wastewater production in the country is 0.4 MCM day−1 (Hamoda, 2001), whereas the total daily freshwater consumption is close to 1.65 MCM day−1. This lower production of treated waste water is attributed mainly to lack of water collection facility in some areas, prohibition of industrial effluent discharges into municipal waste water collection network and disposal of wastewater into sea after pre treatment to bring its characteristic to acceptable levels (Alhamoud et al, 2003). The discharge of tertiary treated waste water into the paleo drainage will facilitate recharge into shallow aquifer resulting in improved soil moisture content perennially which in turn can support a better vegetation cover. Improved soil moisture and vegetation cover will retard free sand movement in the zone, hopefully creating a positive impact on stabilization of sand sheet and dunes in the area
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