Abstract
Most parts of Morocco are arid where water resources are becoming more and more threatened due to shortage problems. According to the Moroccan Superior Council of Water and Climate (2000), the national strategy for water management policies focuses on three main priorities: (1) continuing water resource mobilisation programs, (2) applying economy of water consumption measures and (3) developing management and use of non-conventional water resources (such as brackish water and wastewater). The use of non-conventional waters such as brackish or low-quality groundwater could be considered to overcome the water scarcity problem in Morocco, especially in interior regions. Rational management and reuse of these kinds of water resources could constitute a great challenge for arid areas (such as Morocco) to improve water balance. The poor quality of these water resources is generally considered as a great obstacle to their use for drinking or for irrigation. Utilisation of an appropriate desalination approach adapted to our socioeconomic conditions could make use of low-quality waters that are quantitatively very important in our region. Indeed, chemical analysis done in the most important salty regions in Morocco — Lake Zima, situated in the Marrakech region—shows that water quality is considered salty to hyper-salty according to the classification of salty water established by Por (1977) and reported by Saadi (1994). In the south of Morocco, in the Ouarzazate region, Oued Malleh and groundwater present a great problem of salinity as shown by chemical characteristics (TDS, EC and SAR), either for superficial or for groundwater in the region (ORMVAO report, 1996). Desalination of these types of water could be more advantageous than using seawater, as they are less concentrated in salts. Furthermore, desalination of water could provide several benefits: in addition to treatment and valorisation of enhanced quality water in agriculture, it could be possible to valorise economically the desalination residues via salt extraction in extensive evaporation tanks.
Published Version
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