Harmonious cities - UN-Habitat

IN-FOCUS Water
28
Ksar Ghiléne, in Tunisia, uses photovoltaic solar energy to power its desalination plant
the WWF believes that the impact these
plants can lead to brine build-up, increased
u r b a n
WORLD
November 2008
Ph o t o © in S t i t u t o te C n o l ó g i C o d e CA n A r i A S
greenhouse gas emissions, destruction of
prized coastal areas and reduced emphasis
Mobile solutions to meet growing water needs
in UAE, Oman and Qatar
With increasing populations, heavy
demands on infrastructure and energy,
and one of the highest water consumption
rates in the world, the Middle East
and North Africa are under pressure. By
2010 the regions thirst is set to increase
to 8.8 billion cubic metres a year. General
Electric and Septech have recently
signed agreements with the United Arab
Emirates, Oman and Qatar to meet this
demand by providing mobile water systems
for the next 20 years.
Housed in a 12-metre mobile container, the
units are easily deployable and through reverse
osmosis technology can treat brackish, salt and
wastewater and produce from 1,000m 3 per day.
The mobile units are able to meet all regulatory
requirements around the world and can
operate independently of a power source. “They
are not limited exclusively to unplanned emergency
situations, rather they present solutions
for a range of additional service scenarios. The
units are able to be rapidly deployed and in op-
The 12-metre mobile containers can produce 1,000m 3 of water each day Ph o t o © SeP t e C h
on conservation of rivers and wetlands.
“Many of the areas of most intensive desalination
activity also have a history of damaging
natural water resources, particularly
groundwater,” says Jamie Pittock, Director
of WWF’s Global Freshwater Programme.
“Large desalination plants might rapidly
become ‘the new dams’ and obscure the importance
of real conservation of rivers and
wetlands.”
While is generally agreed that desalination
plants make sense as one of part of the
solution to water supplies along with conservation,
the World Wildlife Fund believes
that they have a limited role in water supply.
“Simultaneously there needs to a substantial
commitment to research into potential, longterm
cumulative impacts of an industry that
is rapidly scaling up its presence in many areas
of the world,” concludes the WWF report
on desalination.
eration within short periods of time and
are able to treat sea, brackish and treated
sewage effluent,” says Ashruf Kamel
Chief Strategy Officer for Septech.
“With the global consumption of water
doubling every 20 years, it has been
estimated that by 2025 more than one
third of the world’s population will not
have adequate access to drinking water,”
adds Kamel. “These alarming figures do
not even encompass the growing industrial
demand for water supply.”
To date the technology has successfully
been deployed for a variety of desert-
based mega projects, delivering water
quantities from 1,000m 3 to 10,000m 3 .
Without any current municipality infrastructure
in place, the units have
ensured that developers can commence
with construction and deliver their
projects according to timelines set.
“Whether for domestic or industrial
application, our mobile water systems
are capable of suiting the needs of multiple
industries including; construction,
power, chemical processing, pharmaceuticals
and food and transport,” explains
Kamel.
Septech is sending more than one
hundred units to the region and is
attracting interest from Turkey, Libya
and Australia in 2009. u