Optimal selection of seawater desalination technology in Oman

Abstract

Groundwater is the main water source in the Sultanate of Oman, which is overexploited to meet water needs as the country faces a deficit between replenishment and demand. In order to conserve groundwater resources, Oman started using seawater desalination technology in 1997. In the future, the government strategic plan is to meet 90% of its drinking water demand from desalinating seawater. The selection of a desalination technology depends on the need and capability of the country, and as the technologies have improved and become efficient over the years, it is necessary to evaluate the technologies to make an informed decision. Therefore, this research adopts the analytical hierarchy process to select the best seawater desalination technology for Oman based on several desired criteria. This study considered several criteria and sub-criteria in the evaluation process and concluded that the most important criteria influencing the selection of desalination technology are environmental, social and economic criteria, with priority vectors of 0.362, 0.238 and 0.179, respectively. The study further concluded that the optimum seawater desalination technology for Oman, based on the desired criteria, is reverse osmosis, followed by forward osmosis, multistage flash and multiple-effect distillation.