Jordan: 300,000 year old Disi aquifer to quench water shortage

Jordan is considering “unconventional” and “environmentally unfriendly” plans to solve its water shortage, experts say. These plans include tapping into the ancient southern Disi aquifer, despite concerns about high levels of radiation, and the controversial Two Seas Canal running from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

Disi Water Conveyance Project

The US$ 990 million Disi project (2008-2012) involves extracting 100 million cubic metres of water a year from a 300,000-year-old aquifer and transporting it over 325 km south to the capital Amman. The plan would ensure enough water for Amman for the next 50 years.

However, Disi’s water has 20 times more radiation than is considered safe, according to a 2008 study by Duke University in the USA. The government said the problem can be solved by diluting the water with an equal amount of water from other sources. Jordan University professor Elias Salameh also stated it was not complicated to deal with the radioactivity.

Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) warned against the threat of overpumping, which could cause problems likes problems like sinkholes. The group also says there were no studies that said for certain how long the aquifer water would last.

Two Seas Canal

The World Bank is conducting a feasibility study on this project, but environmentalists warn that saline water intrusion could damage Dead Sea’s fragile ecosystem.

The degradation of the Dead Sea began in the 1960s when Israel, Jordan and Syria began to divert water from the Jordan River – the Dead Sea’s main supplier.

Over the years 95% of the river’s flow has been diverted by the three neighbours for agricultural and industrial use, with Israel alone diverts more than 60% of it, according to FoEME.

The impact on the Dead Sea has been compounded by a drop in groundwater levels as rainwater from surrounding mountains dissolved salt deposits that had previously plugged access to underground caverns.

Water mismanagement

Water expert and a former Jordan Valley Authority chief Dureid Mahasneh, says that Jordan is suffering from massive water mismanagement due to a lack of a proper strategy. The country cultivates crops with a large water footprint that easily could be imported to save water. Over 60% of Jordan’s annual water consumption of 900 million cubic metres goes to agriculture, which only contributes 3.6% to the gross domestic product. In addition, around 48% of pumped water supplies are lost annually due to worn-out pipes and theft, Mahasneh claimed.

Source: Sapa / Saving Water SA, 06 Apr 2011

The Blue Gold: Water Supply in the Middle East

More so than any other region, countries in the Middle East rely heavily on technology to guarantee their water supply. Elisabeth Fischer profiles some innovative large and small-scale projects in Abu Dhabi and Yemen designed to overcome the severe water problems in the region in water-technology.net (28 March 2011).

The Water Security Risk Index, released by the British risk consultants Maplecroft, at the World Water Day 2011 on 22 March, found that 18 countries around the world are at ‘extreme risk’ of danger to their water security. Of these countries 15 are in the Middle East.

 Several key oil exporters such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Libya and Algeria are worst off, according to the study, and the insecurities surrounding the water supply contribute to heighten political risks in an already volatile region and may even lead to higher oil prices in the future.

“Awareness about water shortages in the Middle East is undoubtedly growing,” says programme officer of the global team at the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), in The Hague, the Netherlands, Cor Dietvorst. “Maplecroft’s Water Risk Index identifies the Middle East as exposed to the most overall risk.”

Obviously, the need for innovative solutions to the problem of water supply is there. “Water plays a very important role in the Middle East,” says Dietvorst and quotes International Development Research Centre (IDRC) senior program specialist, Naser I. Faruqui, who wrote in his 2001 book Water management in Islamthat “it seems that in the Quran, the most precious creation after humankind is water.”

Read the full article

Libya: what role for Great Man-Made River Project in conflict?

Rumours that the huge underground pipes of the Great Man-Made River Project (GMRP) are hiding Libyan tanks and missiles, have re-emerged during the current conflict. Back in in 1997, the New York Times reported that the US$ 33 billion project, which provides 6.5 million cubic metres a day to the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirt and elsewhere, “has some clandestine military purpose”. Now, in April 2011, the Guardian newspaper reported that the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is hiding his armour from NATO air strikes in the irrigation tunnels of the GMRP.

Earlier, the Libyan government warned that the NATO-led air strikes could cause a “human and environmental disaster” if they damaged the GMRP. Engineer and project manager Abdelmajid Gahoud said that three pipelines, one for gas, one for oil and another for water, run underground parallel to the 400-kilometre-long road from the eastern city of Benghazi to Sirte, through an area where there had been many coalition air raids.

Israel: water shortage greater than previously thought

New plan calls for an investment of Euro 10.47 billion in the coming decade to develop water production and supply systems to deal with the dwindling precipitation and the rise in the salinity of the groundwater which considerably exceeds previous estimates, according to a master plan for water now being finalized.

The master plan, drafted by a Water Authority task force with the help of environmental organizations, was submitted this week to the National Planning and Building Council.

About 80 percent of this development will be financed by water prices; the state will provide the rest. But the rise in water prices will not need to be significant, as the number of consumers will rise, due to population increases.

Israel’s water consumption per capita has declined sharply, from more than 110 cubic meters annually in the past to 90 cubic meters today, mainly due to water-saving campaigns and the rise in water prices, the task force said.

Environmental organizations object to this conclusion, saying that water saving must be consistently encouraged. This could obviate the need for some desalination facilities, which, in addition to high costs, have negative environmental effects, such as energy consumption and occupying large areas of the coastal region.

But in any case, the master plan’s implementation faces significant stumbling blocks. One of these is the absence of a government body in charge of policy on issues like population growth and dispersal. The Water Authority also lacks the clout to ensure that enough desalination plants are built, and it is severely short of professional personnel.

Source: Haaretz.com, May 10, 2011

Dubai : Mounting Demand, Major Challenges and Opportunities

The Environmental Practice at Frost & Sullivan, a Global Growth Partnership Company, is hosting an Analyst Briefing titled ‘Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in  Middle East and North Africa: Mounting Demand, Major Challenges and Opportunities’, on April 19th, 2011.

Frost & Sullivan will soon release a report called ‘Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Market in Middle East and North African Countries’. This report will provide an overview and assessment of the water and wastewater infrastructure market in the MENA region. The report evaluate the main challenges, drivers and restrains faced in the MENA market and provides a comprehensive analysis of the present market status as well as the forecast for future developments. This study also provides competitive analysis of water and wastewater treatment solution providers. The base year is 2010 with forecasts running until 2015.

The MENA region is a pioneer in Desalination plants. The region has witnessed huge investments in the water and wastewater sector in the recent years. The growth in this sector has been impressive and the participants are preparing to grab the opportunities and take advantage of the promising market dynamics.

To participate in this briefing, or for an interview, contact Tanu Chopra(tanu.chopra@frost.com/ Nimisha Iyer (niyer@frost.com) with full name, company name, title, telephone number, office e-mail id, address, city, state, and country.

Contact:

Tanu Chopra (tanu.chopra@frost.com), Corporate Communications – Middle East and North Africa

P: +91.22. 6607 2037/ F: +91.22.2832 4713

Nimisha Iyer (niyer@frost.com),  Corporate Communications –Middle East, North Africa and South Asia

P: +91 98200 50519/ F: +91 22 2832 4713

http://www.frost.com

Source: ZAWYA , 14 Apr 2011.

Palestine: Thirst for Justice

A campaign called “Thirsting for Justice” was launched the 22th of March, World Water Day which calls on European governments to put pressure on Israel to respect international law and Palestinian right access to water and sanitation.

Behind this campaign launched, is the Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene group (EWASH), a coalition of 30 leading humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam.

“Israel policies and practices limit Palestinians’ access to the water they are entitled to under international law” says Ziyaad Lunat. He remarks that under the Oslo Accords Israel controls all sources of fresh water in the West Bank whereas Palestinians are only allowed to take 20 percent of the “estimated potential” of the Mountain Aquifer underneath the West Bank and Israel extracts the balance. As a result, “Palestinians in the West Bank are forced to purchase over half of their water from Israel” and “Israel takes this water from the Mountain Aquifer over which Palestinians have rights to an equitable share”, say the spokesman for EWASH to PNN.

According to the Thirsting for Justice Campaign, in Gaza 90 to 95 percent of the Coastal Aquifer, the only one source of fresh water available for its inhabitants, is contaminated due to over extraction and sewage contamination, making it unfit for human consumption. For Ziyaad Lunat “the restrictions imposed by Israel as part of its ongoing blockade make the rehabilitation of the aquifer and the search for alternatives extremely difficult”.

The campaign itself targets the European governments and citizens. “They do have a stake in the situation here because they fund a lot of the projects that have been destroyed by the Israeli army.” Ziyaad Lunat also says: “We hope there will be a change in attitudes and behaviours.  EU member states have closer ties with Israel and they are in a strong position to affect change”.

Related news:

• The Remarkable Miracle Continues to Happen, 18 April 2011
• Palestinian Detainees Go on Hunger Strike Marking Prisoner’s Day, 17 April 2011

Source: Palestine News Network, Ziyaad Lunat: Palestinian People Thirst for Justice, 14 April 2011

Palestine: World Bank grants US$3 million for Gaza water and sanitation

The World Bank has approved a grant of US$3 million to the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) to fund cost overruns in the implementation of a US$ 31 million project to improve access and delivery of water and sanitation services to people in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Emergency Water Project (GEWP), which was approved in 2005, has suffered a number of delays due to hostilities and access restrictions on material and personnel which also resulted in an increase in project related costs.

The grant will ensure continued water and waste service delivery to the citizens of Gaza, and finance rehabilitation of water and sanitation networks – including pumping stations, water wells and effluent treatment plants. The grant will also be used to procure the information technology necessary to manage integrated systems.

For more information visit the project web page: GZ-Gaza II Emergency Water Additional Financing III

Other recent CMWU projects have received funding from the Qatar Red Crescent Society, Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) and Islamic Relief.

Related web site: Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU)

Source: World Bank, 12 Apr 2011

Qatar, Palestinian Red Crescents sign MoU

On 31 January 2011, the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRC) and Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in fields of health care, water, sanitation, and other services for the Palestinian people.

The MoU represents the Qatar and Palestinian Red Crescents’ joint commitment to improving the services available to all Palestinian people, whether in Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, refugee camps throughout the region, or the Diaspora.

Web site: Palestinian Red Crescent Society

Source: The Peninsular, 02 Feb 2011 ; PRCS, 20 Feb 2011

Iraq: Empty Quarter project starts pumping water to Najran

A project to exploit underground water in the Empty Quarter started pumping water to many districts of Najran on the 1^st of April 2011.

“Water supplied by 17 wells in the Empty Quarter are collected at a location 130 kilometers east of Najran city before supplying to various districts,” Director General of the Water Department in Najran province Saleh Heshlan said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency.

The wells are now capable of pumping 50,000 cubic meters of water daily and the pumped water is collected in the first pumping station in Nuqaiha, 125 kilometers east of Najran, and then pumped with the help of boosting stations, he said.

The project will benefit Al-Fahd and Athayabah districts, districts on both sides of King Abdulaziz and King Abdullah roads from the Holiday Inn to the Al-Shalal intersection.

The minister told local Arabic daily Al-Madinah that there would not be any change in water tariffs despite the fact that demands will tremendously increase in the next five years due to an increase in population and development projects.

“The ministry is currently considering plans to specify the areas in which there is a need for treated sewage water,” he added.

Source: Iraq Daily Journal, April 2, 2011

Water treatment technology showcased

ConocoPhillips, an international and integrated energy company based in the US has created an ‘innovative display’ that caught the visitors’ attention for its innovative design and content, as it reflects the work of one of the company’s major ventures in support and service of the environment, the Global Water Sustainability Center (GWSC).

GWSC is a collaborative effort between ConocoPhillips & General Electric Water Technologies, located at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) for the development of innovative, more efficient and cost-effective technologies for the treatment of petroleum by-product water.

The ConocoPhillips displayed also a children’s play area, a plantation area, a marina and desert life area, a cultural area, food outlets as well as school performances throughout the event. The display carried four story boards to explain the global and local water resources, desalination, formation water, reclaimed water and showcase the activities of GWSC/COP.

Dr Adham, GWSC managing director said, “Qatar has very limited ground water and rainfall but has abundant sea water. Hence 99% of Qatar’s household water comes from seawater desalination plants which remove salt & impurities from sea-water resulting in clean, fresh water that is safe for drinking as well as for use in construction, hospitals, factories, irrigation, lawns and landscaping.”

The collected “produced water,” is usually highly saline and may contain hydrocarbons, minerals or metals rendering it impossible to use without treatment.

“Managing the treatment and disposal of the “produced water” is a challenge for our industry,” explained Dr Adham.

Source:aeCERT, April 3, 2011