Save Water

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 4

We are running out of water!!!

fifths of the Saudis' non-renewable groundwater (water beneath the Saudi


desert ) is now gone, because of the intensive modern farming that has
pumped out up to 21 cubic kilometers annually to grow crops and feed
Authors: Yusri Syahrir Husain & Akeem Olawale Bello
Environment, Health, and Safety Department (January 2019) livestock. But, none of it is replaced by the rains, because there effectively
are none.
Shocking facts about water security in our region
• The Arab region has access to merely 1% of the world's total water Ratio of water consumption vs renewable resources for
resources. GCC countries
• Saudi Arabia is among the world’s highest per capita water 10
consumption. 8
• More than 80% of the total water available is used by the agricultural
6
sector.
4
• 50% of Saudi Arabia drinking water comes from high-cost desalination
plants 2
0
We are living under extreme water shortage conditions Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia UAE
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is located in one of the world’s driest region Renewable resources Water consumption
with an average rainfall of less than 100 mm per year. With a land
dominated by desert with no permanent natural rivers or lakes, the
kingdom is facing an immense challenge to meet water demand for its fast Water issues in the kingdom
growing population. Today, the desalination plants cover about 50% of KSA
drinking water demand with more than 80% of the total water available 250L 50%
used by the agricultural sector. The mining of non-renewable groundwater the amount of water of domestic oil
covers 40% of the supply and only 10% comes from surface water in the used per capita per production is being
mountainous southwest of the country. day in Saudi Arabia used for desalination

Water shortage vs high consumption 943% 4/5


Yet the Kingdom is among the highest per capita water consumption rates proportion of KSA’s of the Saudis' non-
in the world (250 Liters/day), which results in huge gaps between water reserves that renewable ground-
have been used water has been used
renewable supply and demand: Saudi Arabia uses 943% of its available
water reserves. There are 31 high-cost desalination plants operated by the
government to cover half of the water demand. On the other side, four-
Over-dependence on desalination plant
Sources of water in KSA
The desalination plant is very expensive to finance, operate, and maintain.
Desalination Ground water Surface water Moreover, the process that produce millions of gallons of water each day,
then piping it hundreds of kilometers to Riyadh and other cities requires
large amounts of energy. On daily basis, up to 1.5 million barrels of oil are
10%
required to fuel all desalination plants spread across 17 locations along
Saudi Arabia’s coastline. It has been estimated that about half of domestic
oil production in the Kingdom is now used for desalination.
50%
40% The government’s new direction
For decades, the citizens did not pay much for water since it was heavily
subsidized by the government; a condition that made people not aware
about the kingdom’s water shortage problem. So it is unsurprising when
the government announced a drastic increase in water tariff, many Saudis
voiced their frustration and asked the government to revisit its decision.
Water consumption in KSA Sustainable ways to ease the water crisis
Apart from great efforts to make the desalination process a more effective
and efficient business, KSA is starting to implement water recycling and
reuse programs as alternative strategies to conserve water. By using
treated water for non-drinking purposes, such as agriculture and
maintaining green spaces, the kingdom not only conserves water but
indeed save energy by reducing the cost of potable water production.

In order to curb the water demand from the agricultural sector, the
government has banned growing of water-intensive crops and made
arrangement for outsourcing food production to other countries.

Start from ourselves


Yes, we are the main actors; conserving water should start from ourselves.
Moreover, KFUPM as an educational institution should be the leading
example to solve the immense challenge of our region water crisis. There
are a lot of things we can do as an individual to save water: References:
1. First, bear in mind, water is not cheap anymore; today’s wastage Published journals
will be tomorrow’s shortage 1. Climate Change and Water Scarcity: The Case of Saudi Arabia
2. Open the tap only when you are going to use the water, for https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214999615012217
example: don’t keep the tap open while you brush your teeth
2. Towards Assessment of Saudi Arabia Public Awareness of Water
3. Report water leak as soon as possible, never underestimate a
Shortage Problem
dripping tap, it can waste about 5,500 liters of water a year.
http://article.sapub.org/10.5923.j.re.20130301.02.html
4. Stop food waste; take only what you can finish. It takes a lot of
water to produce our food. 3. Impacts of agricultural policy on irrigation water demand: a case study
of Saudi Arabia
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07900627.2013.876330?scrol
l=top&needAccess=true

4. Water demand versus supply in Saudi Arabia: current and future


challenges
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07900627.2013.837363?utm
_source=TrendMD&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=International_Journal
_of_Water_Resources_Development_TrendMD_0

5. Food security amidst water scarcity: Insights on sustainable food


production from Saudi Arabia
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352550915000093

Newsletter
1. Water Scarcity in Saudi Arabia
https://thewaternetwork.com/article-FfV/water-scarcity-in-saudi-arabia-
tC0fPMPt4qhplY2XP-8AeQ

2. Overcoming water shortage in KSA


http://www.arabnews.com/news/overcoming-water-shortage-ksa
3. Saudi Arabia's Great Thirst
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/saudi-arabia-
water-use/

4. Ways Saudi Arabia is looking to save water


http://www.arabnews.com/node/1435621/saudi-arabia

You might also like