Calculating the environmental cost of seawater desalination in the Arabian marginal seas

Seawater desalination in the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea is the reliable source of water supply to the population of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. If desalination plants were to operate along the coasts of these arid climate semi-enclosed Arabian marginal seas,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDesalination Vol. 185; no. 1; pp. 79 - 86
Main Authors Purnama, Anton, Al-Barwani, H.H., Smith, Ronald
Format Journal Article Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.11.2005
Elsevier
Subjects
Applied sciences
Arabian Gulf
Drinking water and swimming-pool water. Desalination
Exact sciences and technology
Mathematical model
Pollution
Red Sea
Seawater desalination
Water treatment and pollution
Red Sea
Mathematical model
Seawater desalination
Arabian Gulf
Sensitivity analysis
Desalination plant
Desalination
Production
Brine
Production capacity
Coastal zone
Seawater
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Summary:Seawater desalination in the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea is the reliable source of water supply to the population of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. If desalination plants were to operate along the coasts of these arid climate semi-enclosed Arabian marginal seas, then the additional loss of water and returned brine waste due to the plant's water production would increase the salinity. A mathematical model is presented to calculate the impact of desalination plants on the salinity within a semi-enclosed sea of simple geometry. Due to the exponential sensitivity to the plant's location and its water production capacity, the effect of seawater desalination at the northern Arabian Gulf or Red Sea is found to be more severe.
ISSN:0011-9164
1873-4464
DOI:10.1016/j.desal.2005.03.072