Desalination Plants: Potential impacts of brine discharge on marine life

Rashad Danoun

Supervisor: Prof. Ian. S. F. Jones

Associate Supervisor: Associate Prof. Phil Mulhearn

The Ocean Technology Group

Final Project 05/06/2007

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Abstract Water has always been the earths most valuable natural resource for human beings and ecosystems. Fresh water is an essential natural resource that supports human beings, flora, and fauna habitat. Reductions in water quality and quantity have serious negative impacts on ecosystems. Over the past several decades, a tremendous growth in human populations and industrial activities has resulted in a significant demand for fresh and clean water. To meet these challenges and meet the pressures of demand it is critical to find a new alternative of water resource as the natural water resources have almost vanished. In spite of the high cost of desalinated water, an important quantity is already produced to meet the necessity for fresh water worldwide. Desalination could hold the key for new fresh water resources. Building more dams with significant sizable catchments would be a great solution in regards to supplying Australia with fresh water; however, many regions in Australia are facing a reduction in the rainfall and level of runoff. All the dams around Australia face a vast reduction in the storage level due to the diminishment of the inflow rate and the growth in water usage. Some arguments will be raised against building desalination plants on the grounds of environmental impacts to the surrounding area, especially to marine life due to the high concentrated brine discharge that diffuses back into the ocean. The impacts of the brine discharge are due to the high level of salinity and total alkalinity and alteration to the temperature. These impacts could be considerable in terms of the influence on the marine organisms such as the development of species, survival of larva and breeding and reproductive traits. However this paper provides some evidence that the influence of discharge for desalination plant can be neglected in term of any environmental impact to the aquatic flora and fauna species.

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Table of contents
1. Demand for fresh water .............................................................................1 2. Desalination plant facts ..............................................................................2 3. Desalination plants worldwide.....................................................................5 3.1 Desalination plants in the Arabian Gulf area...........................................................6 3.2 Proposed desalination plants in Australia................................................................7
3.2.1 Dams and desalination plants in Australia ..........................................7 3.2.2 Perth desalination plant ................................................................ 16 3.2.3 Sydney desalination plant ............................................................. 17

4. Environmental impacts of desalination plants .............................................18 4.1 Chemical materials used in a pretreatment stage of desalinated seawater ..............18 4.2 Consideration and criticism ..................................................................................18 5. Impact of discharge brine.........................................................................20 5.1 What is brine discharge?.......................................................................................20
5.1.1 Brine discharge plume current ....................................................... 20 5.1.2 Environmental and chemical aspects of brine discharge...................... 21

5.2 The impact of salinity changes on the marine environment ...................................25 5.3 The impact of Temperature alteration on the marine environment ........................28 5.4 The impact of Total Alkalinity changes on the marine life ....................................30 5.5 Summation ...........................................................................................................30 6. Conclusion ..............................................................................................31 7. Recommendations ...................................................................................32 References..................................................................................................33 Websites.....................................................................................................36 Appendix A: ................................................................................................37 Appendix B .................................................................................................48 Acknowledgements......................................................................................55

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1. Demand for fresh water

In the last couple of decades, significant growth has occurred in the human population. This increase has resulted in an enormous requirement for extra resources of food, more settlements and discovery of new resources of potable fresh water. The world population growth last century increased from 1.65 billion to 6 billion and it is expected to continue to grow in this century. This rapidly increasing population is placing pressure on the remaining existing water resources. In addition to the development of the industrial and commercial activities around the world that result in the pollution of the available water resources, the waste of natural sources, deforestation and climatic alteration due to global warming can play a significant role in the reduction of average rainfall and runoff (North et al, 1995: World water assessment program, 2003). Clean potable water has become a precious commodity because of rising demands from the growing world population and increasing global industrialization. Almost 20% of the world's population is facing lack of access to safe drinking water. Water covers over 75% of the earth surface and saline water makes up 97.5% of this; however just 2.53% is fresh and potable, used for different purposes such as domestic, industrial and agriculture demands. Based on the latest figures from the United Nations World Water Development Report more than 50 percent of the nations in the world will face water crises by 2025, however by 2050 about 75 percent of the world population will have a significant possibility of facing water shortages (United Nations, 2003). The answer to these water challenges is to find or create new, alternatives, and

inexpensive resources of fresh water. Traditionally dams and artesian wells have been used in order to provide fresh water; however the amount of water that can be produced in these ways is insufficient or unpredictable. Therefore creating a new source of potable water has been a significant issue worldwide and as consequence desalination plants are one of the most vital and valuable alternative resource in many countries around the world. According to the statistic in 1985, there are about 4,600 desalination plants worldwide and these plants are able to produce a total capacity of 2,621 million gallons per day (AL-Mutaz, 1991). Worldwide, the average baseline consumption of fresh water is 300 liters per day per person which equals to around one hundred thousand liters of fresh water per person annually. The demand for fresh water in Saudi Arabia will be over 3,000 millions cubic meters of potable water per year by 2010, which will be required by the increased population. There is an urgent need to discover new alternatives and available sources of fresh water. Desalination techniques have

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been used since the early stages of life by removing the salt from the seawater to use as drinkable water (Einav et al, 2002).

Figure 1.1 demonstrates the disturbance and percentage of fresh and salty water worldwide. Source: Encyclopedia of desalination and water resources.

2. Desalination plant facts

The lack of fresh water or potable water in several countries around the world is a result of the shortage of natural water resources. Therefore, it has been necessary to plan and create new methods such as desalination technology to provide fresh water that is suitable for human and animal consumption and irrigation. The desalination process is one of mankinds earliest designs to separate fresh water from a salt-water solution (Einav et al, 2002). Desalination involves

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several processes to remove the excess salt and other minerals from the water in order to get potable water for human usage. Desalination of sea or ocean water is a widespread technology used in many countries in the world; this sort of technology is very common in the Middle East and North Africa, and is growing fast in United States of America because of water scarcity. Desalination is a two-step process involving both evaporation and condensation by using heat and reverse osmosis technology.

Figure 2.1 shows the process used in desalination plants Source: United States Geographical Survey

Essentially, a desalination plant is a system to separate saline water into two streams: one with a low concentration of dissolved salt and inorganic materials (the fresh water stream, suitable for consumption by human beings) and the other containing the remaining dissolved salts (the concentrate stream or brine discharge). The amount of flow discharged to waste as a brine discharge varies from 20 to 70 percent of the feed flow, depending on the technology that is used in the plant. To build a desalination plant, several criteria have to be addressed: i. Establish the potential location of a desalination plant in an appropriate site where adequate land is available and the land is already zoned for industrial purposes (Younos, 2005). A- The site is away from homes and schools so it can not cause noise pollution. 01/06/2007 3 Danoun. R

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B- Close proximity to the sea or the ocean so the pipeline length is not too long and cost is reduced. C- Good quality seawater and D- to be in close proximity to a power source. ii. An acceptable plan to deal with the issue of sustainable disposal and potential reuse of brine effluent from the desalination plant to minimise the possible impacts of high salinity and alkalinity from the brine discharge on marine life; and to be environmentally compatible. iii. Establish a suitable position for the inlet and outlet for feeding water and discharge brine to and from the desalination plant. The most essential steps in the desalination process are based on using evaporation or membrane technology separation in order to discard the dissolved salt and dissolved minerals from the sea water to obtain fresh and clean water (Einav et al, 2002). Recently reverse osmosis technology,

which is one of the newest desalinated membrane technologies, has been applied to a wide range of separation processes. The reverse osmosis technology is based on using semi-penetrable membranes to separate into different salt concentrated solutions. Table 2.1 shows the different technologies have been used in desalination plant.

Membrane technologies
Electro dialysis (ED/ EDR) Electronic field is applied on the membrane between two electrodes

Evaporation technologies
Multi Stage Flash (MSF) It is passed on an evaporation process by flowing hot water into a low pressure compartment

Reverse Osmosis (RO) The most popular technique worldwide and relies on the external pressure which is higher than osmotic one

Multi Effect Distillation (MED) It is based on the cycle of potential heat to generate a steam of fresh water (combination with power station) Vapor Compression Distillation (ECD) Basically is a method of using the heat pump of repeated cycles of condensation and evaporation

Table 2.1 demonstrates two different technologies that have been used in desalination plants, in addition to several sorts of machinery for each technology (Einav et al, 2002)
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Figure 2.2 shows a simple diagram for a desalination plant from the first step of feeding seawater up to last process of the obtainment of clean water and the brine discharge through a several processes.

3. Desalination plants worldwide

As a consequence due to lack of good quality water, desalination of seawater has been commonly used to solve the problems of water supply for municipal and industrial uses. Currently, approximately 12,300 desalination plants exist in 155 countries worldwide with a combined capacity of over 47 million cubic meters per day (Appendix B presents widely the desalinated water capacity and the number of desalination plants worldwide) (Global Water Intelligence, 2006). Appendix A presents a number of satellite images of several desalination plants around the world. About two thirds of which are located in the Middle East with 60% of this worldwide capacity (Pantell, 1993), in some of the most arid parts, particularly Gulf States where natural clean potable water is unobtainable or extremely limited. The United States of America, which is the second largest producer of desalinated water after Saudi Arabia, has nearly 800 desalting plants with a combined capacity of about one million cubic meters production which equals to 12% of the worlds desalinated water capacity. Encina desalination plant in the United States of America is located on the coast of southern California and produces 50 MG/D that equals 189 ML/D (Jenkins and Wasyl, 2005).

Israel (in common with other countries in the Middle East) is in a crisis over water scarcity and the unobtainable fresh water resources, so the first desalination plant was in Ashkelon and has been commissioned in 2000. This plant will provide Israeli consumers with 100 million cubic meters of water a year, which is equivalent of approximately 5-6 percent of the national water,

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needs and will provide 13% of the countrys domestic consumer demands. Ashkelon desalination plant was recognised in 2006 by the international water industry as the worlds largest desalination plant facility and the most advanced of its kind worldwide.

3.1 Desalination plants in the Arabian Gulf area

The Middle East in general has been recognised as the biggest producer of desalinated water and the Gulf Area in particular is distinguished as having the highest number of desalination plants existing worldwide. Table B.3 in appendix B presents the number of units and desalinated water production capacity in all states of Arabian Gulf area. Kuwait was the first country in the Arabian Gulf area to build a desalination plant using seawater in 1953. Kuwait had begun producing 3.1 million cubic meters annually of desalinated seawater in 1957 but the figure increased up to 184 cubic meters per year by 1987 (Murakami, 1995). Qatar is another Gulf Arabian state that has adopted desalination plants as a primary source of fresh water for drinking and domestic purposes; Qatar is producing about 150 million cubic meters of desalinated fresh water per year, this amount of clean water is contributing by supplying three-quarters of the total water demand (Murakami, 1995). Saudi Arabia is the worlds largest producer of desalinated seawater. The Saline Water Conversion Office (SWCO) had constructed twenty-four desalination plants across the Saudi Arabian coast, including the twelve major plants on the western coast on the Red Sea and another three on the eastern coast on the Arabian Gulf (Murakami, 1995). According to SWCO in the beginning of this century (around 2002) twenty-seven plants are providing the Saudi Arabian Kingdom with 814 million cubic meters of water per day to supply the major urban and industrial centers with fresh water. Desalinated seawater meets 70% of the drinking water demand in Saudi Arabia. The major three desalination plants in Saudi Arabia are Al-Jubail and Al-Khobar plants on the Persian Gulf coast and Shoaiba plant on the Red Sea coast. These three plants provide the major three cities in Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah) with a total capacity of fresh water of 400 million gallons per day. Table B.4 shows more details about these plants in term of capacity and constructed date.

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3.2 Proposed desalination plants in Australia

As in most other countries around the world, Australia is facing a major issue in the demand for clean water. Australia is not only the driest inhabited continent in the world, but also the greatest consumer of water per capita. Australians use more than 980 cubic meters of fresh water annually per person for various purposes. Currently, most major urban cities around Australia are facing new policies and restrictions aimed towards reducing the usage of water by 20 per cent or more over time (Securing Australias, 2007). The last couple of decades in general, and this decade in particular, have shown a significant problem with a water crisis in several regions in Australia. Almost all Australian states have imposed the toughest water restrictions on industry and residents since the 1970s. A considerable reduction in the average rainfall has been observed over the past three decades in Australia in general, and in Western Australia in particular (Crisp, 2007). Two major desalination plants are proposed to construct in Australia. One of them, in Perth, and the other will be constructed in New South Wales, in Sydney, a plant has been built already in Western Australia (Kelson and Grisp, 2006).

3.2.1 Dams and desalination plants in Australia

Building dams or desalination plants has been an extensive and considerable issue in the last few years around Australia and in Sydney in particular. Building dams with sizeable catchment areas would be a crucial answer to meet the great demands of water provided if there was enough average rainfall and runoff to fill the dams. History has shown in the last 50 years Australia has experienced a widespread drought throughout the country never before seen, more specifically towards the east coast (figure 3.2.1.1). Rainfall across Australia in recent years has begun to have an impact on the dam levels (Cameron, 2007). For instance, Sydneys overall dam level has gradually dropped since it was last full in 1980. Since mid 2001 until recent days in 2007, the dam levels have gone from almost 90 percent to about 40 percent (figures 3.2.1.4, 7, and 8). In a similar situation Perth has discovered that this diminishing rainfall and runoff means large reductions in the dam levels (figure 3.2.1.3), leading to a significant decline in available water resources. In Perth, a 20% reduction in rainfall resulted in a 60% decline in supply to its dams. Figure 3.2.1.2 shows that over the past five years inflow rate into dam storages has been reducing at higher rates than the last ten years and those levels have in fact returned to those below the pre 1950s. All states are affected by the changing rain patterns to varying degrees. Figures (3.2.1. 5 and 6) show the changing of total rainfall and the average storage level in different dams in Australia such as Sydney and Perth. Given this history, it is 01/06/2007 7 Danoun. R

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important to start other plans such as building desalination plants. It is therefore time for Australia to change focus from building dams to creating new plans for desalinated ocean water. Therefore, a strong argument will be raised that recently rainwater is limited and the rainfall rate is unpredictable while on the other hand seawater is an unlimited source of water. It is time to accept that desalination is a legitimate option for all coastal cities and there are often better options than building new dams and damaging more coastal rivers.

Figure 3.2.1.1 shows the trend in annual total rainfall from 1950-2005 (mm/10years). Source: Modified from Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

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Figure 3.2.1.7 shows a gradual reduction of the percentage of Sydney dam levels from 2002 until the middle of May 2007. Source: Modified from Sydneys dam level.

Figure 3.2.1.8 shows the reduction of one of the dam levels in one month from 24 April until 24 May. Source: Sydneys dam level.
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A strong direct correlation can be derived between the storage percentage of the dam and both the inflow and the outflow rate. Figure 3.2.1.9 presents the relation between the cumulative inflow and outflow in Sydneys dams in the last five years.

Storage Percentage = Inflow Rate - Outflow rate

Inflow Rate = Rainfall+ Runoff Outflow Rate = Usage of the dams water

Figure 3.2.1.9 analysis of the relationship between cumulative inflow and outflow rates of Sydneys Dam. Source: I Live in Sydney.com

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Figure 3.2.1.10 shows the annual inflows for Warragamba and three Nepean dams (Sydney Region) from 1909-2005. Source: Modified from Sydney Catchment Authority Center.
The above figure 3.2.1.10 shows some details of the annual inflows average in Sydney regions dams in about one hundred years. Two other figures (A.13 and A.14) in appendix (A) show more details about the annual inflows for Southwest dams in Western Australia and Wivenhoe Dam in southeast Queensland. All of these figures provide more evidence that rainfall is limited and the inflow rate to the dams around Australia has diminished in the last couple of decades. Therefore the most legitimate, reasonable, and valuable option is building a desalination plant and using this unlimited source of seawater.

3.2.2 Perth desalination plant

Perth Seawater desalination plant has been built at the Kwinana site, 25 km south of Perth. This plant is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere and will be able to produce around 45 million cubic meters per year to supply about 17% of Perths water demands to serve a population of 1.5 million (Crisp, 2007;Cameron, 2007). Western Australia will be the first state to adopt desalinated water in Australia with an initial daily capacity production of 140,000 cubic meters per day. The total project cost is $AU387 million with annual running costs of less than 01/06/2007 16 Danoun. R

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$AU20 million and the estimated cost of the water production will be about $AU1.16/kL (Kelson and Grisp, 2006; Cameron, 2007).

3.2.3 Sydney desalination plant

Although there is a network of eleven dams supplying the Sydney population, the water level of these dams is still low due to the shortage of rainfall as Sydney faces the second worst drought on record. Sydney desalination plant is proposed to build on cleared, industrial zoned land at Kurnell on the south side of Botany Bay. Kurnell is a good site to build this plant for several reasons; a) it is next to the ocean, b) it is an industrial site, and c) long way from residential areas. The New South Wales Government will commit to build this desalination plant by the end of this year if Sydneys water shortage has not improved this year (2007). Kurnell desalination plant is to be constructed in August 2007. The estimated cost of this plant will be $AU2 billion. This plant will be able to provide a third of Sydneys water demand by turning the seawater into half a billion litres of potable water per day.

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4. Environmental impacts of desalination plants

A desalination plant is the same as any other industrial activity could have the potential to cause several environmental impacts to the surrounding area and to the atmosphere. A number of environmental impacts can be addressed as a consequence of running desalination plants and can be classified into several aspects such as liquid and solid waste and gas emission etc.

4.1 Chemical materials used in a pretreatment stage of desalinated seawater

Chemical materials are used in a desalination facility in order to treat the seawater from some of the blots (several sorts of substances that are found in seawater and can plug the membrane), and some odd materials that used in the cleaning stage as obtained below (Younos, 2005): Sodium hypochlorite NaOCl or free chlorine is used for chlorination to prevent biological growth in the membrane facility. Ferric chloride FeCl3 or aluminum chloride AlCl3 used as disinfectants for flocculation and removal of suspended matter from the water. Sulfuric acid H2SO4 or hydrochloric acid HCl to adjust the Ph of the seawater. SHMP (sodium hexameta phosphate) (NaPO3) 6 and similar materials have been used to prevent scale formation on the pipes and on the membrane. Sodium bisulphate NaHSO3 is used in order to neutralise any remains of chlorine in the feed water. Crystalline acid EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) C10H16N2O8 is used in order to remove the carbonate deposits from the desalination facilities. Citric acid C6H8O7, EDTA and Sodium polyphosphate NaPO3, are weak acid detergents used to clean the membrane and this cleaning step is conducted three to four times a year.

4.2 Consideration and criticism

Several environmental impacts could be addressed in terms of running on a desalination facility. It is assumed that using desalination as a water resource would have considerable environmental impacts to the surrounding area including the ecosystems. Significant energy consumption in the 01/06/2007 18 Danoun. R

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desalination process, in order to produce electricity and heat, would lead to greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. The other major issue that can rise in terms of building a desalination plant is the double salt concentration that has been extracted from the seawater and will in most cases be deposited into the ocean as discharge brine. Regardless of the method used in the desalination facility, a number of factors can determine the environmental cost of desalination plants on the surrounding environment. In the reverse osmosis technology, fifty percent of the feed water will be potable water and the other fifty percent will be the discharge brine. It has been estimated that the expected salinity level of the discharge brine is

approximately double which equals to 64-70 ppt part per thousands. This is a highly concentrated waste product consisting of everything that was removed from the seawater to produce fresh water. Environmental impacts associated with concentrated discharge have historically been considered as a major environmental concern to marine life with desalination plants. The environmental impact of desalination plants will vary depending on several factors: i. The location of desalination plant. ii. The location of the inlet and outlet. iii. The method used in the desalination facility and the outlet (water channel and pipeline). The environmental impact of desalination plants can be classified under several chief aspects: (Einav et al, 2002; Hpner and Windelberg, 1996): The impact of using the coastal area, building desalination plant will use a significant length of coastal area. Noise pollution as a result of the high-pressure pumps and energy recovery turbines. The impact of the electricity production that is required to power desalination would be responsible for extra greenhouse gas emissions including carbon monoxide CO, nitric oxide NO, nitrogen dioxide NO2 and sulfur dioxide SO2 (Younos, 2005). Impact of raising the water temperature, the discharge brine has a potential to cause thermal pollution near the outlet, which might pose adverse impacts to marine habitats (AL-Mutaz, 1989) (this will be discussed later in this paper). The impacts on marine life are primarily due to almost doubling the salt concentration and the total alkalinity. The heavily concentrated brine solution discharged into the sea from the desalination plant has the potential to kill marine organisms and cause damage to the marine population (this will be addressed widely later in this paper).

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5. Impact of discharge brine 5.1 What is brine discharge?

Brine discharge is the fluid waste from a desalination plant, which contains a high percentage of salts and dissolved minerals. It returns back to the sea and spreads according to different aspects. Two different types of the brine discharge are used in the desalination plant, water channel and pipeline.

5.1.1 Brine discharge plume current

The discharge brine might be sent directly into the ocean or sea or combined with other discharge; however, several factors can play a large role in the discharge plume and the diffusion into the seawater. The influencing features are (Jenkins and wasyl, 2005): 1. Wind direction and speed. This aspect has a large impact on the diffusion of the discharge brine into the ocean, which can dilute this highly concentrated plume with seawater in a short distance. 2. Wave height and speed. This factor could play a major role in the dispersion of the seawater properties by producing significant effects at higher levels on the ambient environment (Gill, 1982). 3. Bathymetry and the tidal mean and average. According to some scientific research; the brine discharge will have a minimum impact on changing the physical properties. Peak Salinity and alkalinity changes will occur during the high tide in a shallow depression (Swanson et al, 2006). Breaking waves induce considerable turbulence and larger waves help create more mixing, tidal currents generate turbulence by fiction of the seafloor, and wind drives surface current which is also turbulent. When any of these elements is large, rapid diffusion will be occurred which means more diffusion and more dilution of the discharge brine into the ocean water. Therefore the zone of risk is reduced but the area of low risk is increased.

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Figure 5.1.2.1 presents the controlling environmental variables brine dilution, of the three factors (Wave, Tide and Wind) at the Scattergood Site of Encina Desalination Plant. Source: Modified from (Jenkins and Wasyl, 2005).
All of these three aspects have an ability to affect the current and the rate of diffusion of the discharge brine into the sea or the ocean. The turbulence level plays a role in the rate of diffusion in the ocean current fluctuation (Jones and Kenny, 1971). Therefore these three factors have to be considered as a significant influence on the diffusion and mixing of the brine discharge into the ocean and the faster the dilution the less will be any impacts on the seawater quality. Dilution models for effluent discharges by the American Environmental Protection Agency is recommended as a model to experiment and document the diffusion rate of the brine discharge into the seawater (Frick et al, 2001).

5.1.2 Environmental and chemical aspects of brine discharge

The largest impact of desalination plant on the surrounding environment is often considered to act on marine life. The discharge brine has the ability to change the salinity, alkalinity and the temperature averages of the seawater and can cause change on marine habitat. The plume of discharge brine might contain all or some of the following constituents: A. High salt concentration, chemical used during pretreatment stage.

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B. High total alkalinity as a consequence of increasing the calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate and other elements in the seawater to almost double. C. Higher temperature of the discharge brine due to the high temperature is used in the desalination facility. D. Toxic metals, which might be produced if the discharge brine has contact with metallic materials used in the plant facilities In general, the salinity and total alkalinity of the discharge brine is almost double that of average seawater and thermal pollution may occur from the high temperature of the brine discharge. This change in salinity, alkalinity, and temperature could possibly lead to a significant impact on aquatic life. The seawater average salinity, temperature (Millero, 1992) and alkalinity are: o Salinity of sea and ocean water worldwide varies between 30-37 ppt (part per thousand). o Temperature of the sea and ocean water surface differs from the two polar areas to the equator between 15-27 C (summer). o Total alkalinity is approximately 2.3210-3mol/Kg.

5.1.2.1 Total alkalinity determination and calculation Specific instruments can measure salinity and temperature but a chemical treatment is needed to determine the total alkalinity. Total alkalinity is defined as the number of moles of hydrogen ion equivalent obliged to neutralize the excess proton acceptors (Anderson et al, 1998). The accurate way of determining the total alkalinity is to calculate the sum of total dissolved inorganic carbon (bicarbonate), organic nitrogen, phosphate, silicate, borate and other bases. definition of alkalinity in seawater: This leads to the following

Where the small concentration (usually< 1mol/kg) from hydroxide, phosphate, silicate and other bases can often be ignored, therefore the following simple equation of total alkalinity can be defined by the determination of the total amount of calcium carbonate in a sample of water.

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Back titration method is a special technique that has been used in order to determine the total alkalinity. This method has been used due the simplicity of technique and the equipment that is needed. It can be used to determine the total alkalinity in ocean water using hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Normal seawater sample PH is around 8.2 Density =1.027 Kg/L Salinity S=36 ppt Temperature T= 24C

5.1.2.1.1 Analytical Procedure

Taking 50 ml of seawater and adding the hydrochloric acid to get to the point of pH = 3.5 then the sodium hydroxide is added to obtain a pH = 6, this pH is the end point (equivalence point) of the titration of calcium chloride by sodium hydroxide. The following chemical equation shows the chemical process that happens during the titration of calcium carbonate with hydrochloride acid and then with sodium hydroxide.

Equation (5.1.1.1) shows how to calculate the total alkalinity by using the volume and concentration of each of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), which have been used in the chemical experiment, and the density and volume of the seawater (Anderson et al, 1999). So this equation presents that total alkalinity can be measured by identifying the difference between the amount of HCl that has been used to acidify the water sample to pH=3.5 and the volume of NaOH which is used to bring the pH back up to 6.

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V a C a Vb C b AT = V
Equation 5.1.1.1 presents the total alkalinity calculation

AT: Total Alkalinity Va and Ca: volume and concentration of HCl Vb and Cb: volume and concentration of NaOH

:seawater density
V : seawater volume
High total alkalinity of seawater has been achieved in the laboratory procedure by inject some carbon dioxide (CO2) into the seawater to reach pH = 3.5 and then to add few grams of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to attain pH = 6. Over three times the level of total alkalinity of seawater can be obtained by using this method. Two charts (A.1 and A.2) in Appendix A present the chemical procedures of the amounts of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide to the pH.

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5.2 The impact of salinity changes on the marine environment

Changes to salinity can play a significant role in the growth and size of aquatic life and the marine species disturbance. Knowledge of tolerance limits of marine life to different salinity degrees is an important aspect in assessing marine disturbance and population. Changes in the salinity can play two opposite roles on the marine organisms existence; it can be of benefit for some of these organisms such as shellfish and at the same time can have an adverse impact on other species. The salinity alteration that will be mentioned in this paper ranges between 35 ppt to 70 ppt. Water salinity changes may influence; (Neuparath et al, 2002): Development of species and the propagation activity and faster individual growth. Survival of larval stages of animals and life expectancy (shorter or longer generation time). Population density of organisms (higher or lower population growth rate). Breeding of species and reproductive traits. The salinity around the outlet discharge varies from about 80 ppt to reach the actual seawater salinity 35-36 ppt in balance with the surrounding environment. According to some studies the excess salinity level of seawater from the discharge brine is a direct function of the distance from the desalination charge site. The salinity of seawater might not be remarkably different in profile from the surface to the bottom of the sea; however in the ambient area of the discharge brine outfall it can significantly fluctuate between the surface and ten meters depth for instance (Abdul-Wahab, 2007). Figure 5.2.1 shows the seawater salinity profile from surface to eleven meters depth in the surrounding area of Barke desalination plant in Oman. A direct relationship can be clarified between the rates of change of environmental salinity and the effects on marine organisms such as population, size and behavior (Gunter, 1961). However, some of the

sampling evidences for some fish species indicate that these fish are not very sensitive to the salinity fluctuation (Perez, 1969).

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Figure 5.2.1 presents the distribution of the seawater salinity from the surface to 11 meters depth in the ambient of the outfall of Barke desalination plant. Source: modified from (Abdul-Wahab, 2007).
According to some studies about the effects of changes in the salinity of sea water on marine organisms, the primary and apparent changes might occur firstly in mobile species such as plankton and fish, the reaction will be highest in those organisms with a plankton stage in their life history (Hiscock et al, 2004). Parrys experiment presents the impact of changing the seawater salinity on some marine species. Salinity alteration plays a significant role on the marine species size, population and behavior; however, these impacts differ between different sorts of organism. It shows that increasing the salinity level up to 50 ppt could possibly have an enormous impact on the size of several types of fish and the survival rate, but the impact on salmon seems to be less than rainbow trout, which on the other hand can survive salinity changes better than the brown trout (Parry, 1960). Salinity alteration would probably play a considerable function in the fish distribution, while some of the fish juvenile such as croaker fish offspring are more vulnerable to salinity fluctuation than the spot progeny; however an adult generation of these sorts of fish will have an ability to tolerate a vast range of salinity alteration (Moser and

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Gerry, 1989). Gunter believes there is a direct negative correlation between the number of marine species and the salinity increment of the seawater (Gunter, 1961). There are very limited numbers of documented studies or experiments have been done about the impacts of salinity and temperature fluctuation on the flora species neither sedentary organism.

Figure 5.2.2 shows the daily mean ocean and discharge salinity out from the Encina desalination plant for 50 million gallon per day productivity related to the marine biology tolerance and the cumulative probability of the impacts on marine life. Source: (Jenkins and Wasyl, 2005).

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5.3 The impact of Temperature alteration on the marine environment

Another impact of the discharge brine is the thermal pollution that can occur by rising the temperature of the seawater. Thermal pollution, which results from cooling water being discharged to the sea or ocean, can be defined as a major change in the sea temperature. Different consequences can be addressed in order to determine the impact of the temperature alteration on the ambient environment. Generally, the water mass is subdivided vertically by temperature into three main classes.

Figure 5.3.1 shows the vertical temperature profile of the ocean or seawater. Source: (Millero et al, 1992).
Several studies have been carried out in order to determine how the distribution and abundance of marine flora and fauna species react to a change in temperature. The temperature of the brine discharge is one of the major concerns for any desalination plant project; this temperature is higher than the ambient ocean water temperature. Marine biologists believe that a significant impact can occur to the natural balance and distribution of the marine life if a temperature alteration applied to the ambient environment (Buros, 1994). A direct correlation can be determined between the temperature alteration and the behavior of marine species. Sea temperature is one of the key variables to monitor and can play a great role in the marine flora and faunas life (Mann and Lazier, 2006). The highest temperature value in the surrounding area of the brine discharge has been found to occur very close to the mouth of the outfall

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diffuser. Abdul-Wahab study presents a direct link between the temperature of the seawater and the distance from the discharge site (Abdul-Wahab, 2007). The discharge temperature can spike to as high as 57C at the mouth of the plume discharge (Jenkins and Wasyl, 2005). Figure 5.3.2 presents the difference of temperature changes in the ocean water and on the surrounding area of the discharge brine, it shows more considerable fluctuation can be defined around the discharge brine and varies in significant range from 10 to almost 40C, while in general ocean environment the temperature varies between 10 to just under 25C.

Figure 5.3.2 shows the controlling temperature variables for brine dilution in 24 years for the discharge and the daily mean ocean temperature. Source: Modified from (Jenkins et al, 2005).
Temperature can have an influence on the growth and reproduction of marine species. Mobile species such as plankton and fish are the first most likely sort of marine life to be influenced due to changes in the seawater temperature (Hiscock et al, 2004). Changes in the temperature values can have an impact on the marine habitat, a study about the plankton shows that increasing the temperature of the ambient environment will lead to a positive effect on reproduction biology and the growth rate of several species of plankton (Vijverberg, 1980). A decrease in the time of the eggs development of several types of fish and increasing the rate of the population growth has occurred due also to an increase in 01/06/2007 29 Danoun. R

Desalination Plants
temperature. (Bottrel, 1975 and Armitage et al, 1973). He et al. (1980) studied the effect of temperature on the growth and reproduction rate, and the maturity age of the Moina Mangolica, the maturity age reduced from 5.8 days at 20C to 3.4 days in the 30C, the reproduction rate has decreased from 4.1 days at 20 C to once a day at 28C and the longest life span was 10.8 days at 25C, but reduced to 4.2 days at 35C. So temperature can have positive or negative impacts on the marine flora and fauna depending on the species and extent of the change in temperature. A very limited experimental data have been documented about the impact of the temperature changes on several kinds of marine flora and fauna species

5.4 The impact of Total Alkalinity changes on the marine life

An understanding of the oceanic total alkalinity tolerance (positive or negative) of marine species is important in many branches of marine chemistry, ecology and biology. The alkalinity of the seawater is defined as the number of equivalents of calcium carbonate in the seawater (Brewer and Goldman, 1976). The total alkalinity tolerance of the marine life and the changes rate of alkalinity that the brine discharge cause to the seawater has not been exactly determined yet due to a very limited number of experiments. As far as marine biologists are aware, this phenomena has not been adequately documented and very limited experimental data exists. There is also limited literature available, which explores the impact of total alkalinity on marine life. Desalination seawater plant has the ability to increase the total alkalinity level of the brine discharge and to the seawater in the area of discharge afterwards. Therefore testing the total alkalinity level out in the diffuser and the ambient environment would be recommended to declare any impact on the marine flora and fauna species.

5.5 Summation
These three factors can have either positive or negative impacts to the environment in the area of desalination and especially to the marine environment species. However according to some experiments in this area, no considerable impacts have been found on the marine flora and fauna species nor a significant change to the seawater quality from the high concentrated discharge out of desalination plant in the area of the outfall (Sydneys desalination project, 2005).

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6. Conclusion
Over one third of the worlds population is already facing problems due to poor water quality, and fresh water being either unavailable or extremely limited. Overgrowth of human population on this planet and the wasteful usage of natural water resources have resulted in increased demand of fresh potable water. The demand for potable water has been a major issue worldwide. Desalination techniques have assisted with the shortage by offering fresh water from sea or ocean water resources. Numerous countries worldwide have commissioned thousands of desalination plants where natural good-quality water is insufficient or is extremely limited. Hence, desalinated seawater technology has been commonly used as a significant alternative source of clean water to supply water for municipal and industrial regions. Australia is one of the countries with a demand for fresh water. Two major desalination plants are proposed to be constructed. The first in Perth has already been commissioned and the second in Sydney is to be constructed in August 2007. Desalinated seawater holds the key for a new fresh water resource in Australia. Seawater is an unlimited source of water and dams are becoming less feasible because of low rainfall and runoff rates. Most of the dams in Australia show a reduction in the inflow rate and the storage level in the past five, ten and fifty years. Desalination plants could have several impacts on the surrounding environment. The major concern of these impacts surrounds the outfall brine discharge because of its physical and chemical features. High salinity, high temperature and high total alkalinity of the discharge brine could have several positive and negative impacts on the surrounding environment. The impact of brine discharge on marine life is low when compared with the high physical and chemical changes to the seawater. It would be desirable to model the plume and to undertake an intensive biological and ecological monitoring program to keep a healthy coastal marine life.

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7. Recommendations
Salinity, temperature and total alkalinity fluctuations, as a consequence of the brine discharge of the desalination plant, can play a considerable role in determining the abundance and distribution of flora and faunas species. This hypothesis needs to be clarified and verified in order to determine the positive and negative impacts on the ambient environment. New data should be generated to determine this. Modeling the plume of the brine discharge will be desirable in order to illustrate the diffusion area. Long term monitoring of the conditions proposed in relation to temperature, salinity and alkalinity at the site of the desalination discharge outlet vicinity during the desalination process is recommended. This would allow the verification of the appropriate distribution of the discharge plume into the seawater and the impact of the above factors on the aquatic organisms could be better understood. A manual water sampling program needs to be undertaken in the area of the desalination outfall discharge. Examination of the water quality of concentrated brine discharge is required with respect to these three factors to determine the possible harm they could cause to the environment. Therefore an intensive study of environmental impacts and seawater quality monitoring needs to be undertaken occasionally, besides further analysis is required to ensure the proposed project in Sydney will not have significant impacts on the coastal environment. Evidence needs to be obtained to prove that desalination plants are not just an incredible source of fresh potable water but, that this process is economical and environmental friendly.

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References
Abdul-Wahab. S. (2007). Characterization of water discharge from two thermal power/ desalination plants in Oman. Environmental Engineering Science 24 3, pp 321-337. AL-Mutaz, I. S. (1991). Environmental Impact of seawater desalination plants. Environmental Managing and Assessment 16, pp 75-84. Anderson, L. G. Turner, D. R. Wedborg. M and Dyrssen. D. (1999). Determination of total alkalinity and total dissolved inorganic carbon. In: Grasshoff, K. Kremling, K and Ehrhardt, M. (Ed). Methods of Seawater Analysis. Willey-Vch: Federal Republic of Germany, pp. 127-136. Bell, J. D. Pollard, D. A. Burchmore, J.J. Pease, B.C and Middleton, M.J. Structure of a fish community in a Temperature Tidal Mangrove Creek in Botany Bay, New South Wales. Australian Journal of Marine Freshwater Research 35, pp 33-46. Bottrel, H. H. (1975). The relationship between temperature and duration of egg development in some epiphytic Cladocera and Copepoda from the River Thames, Reading, with a discussion of temperature functions, Oecologia 18, pp 63-84. Brewer, P. G and Goldman, J. C. (1976). Alkalinity Changes generated by

phytoplankton growth. Limnology and Oceanography 21 1 pp 108-117. Buros, O. K. (1994). Desalting as an environmentally friendly water treatment process. Summary report of a seminar September 1994. Water Treatment Technology Report No. 13. Water Treatment Engineering and Research Group. Cameron, D. (2007). Securing Australias water Supplies. The magazine of Engineers Australia 79, 1 pp 28-33. Crisp, G. (2007). Leading the way- desalination in Perth. The magazine of Engineers Australia 79, 2 pp 32-33. Einav, R. Harussi. K, Perry. D. (2002). The footprint of the desalination processes on the environment. Desalination 152, pp 141-154. Frick, W. E. Roberts, P. J. W. Davis, L. R. Keyes, J. Baumgartner, D. J and George, K. P. (2001). Dilution Models for Effluent Discharge, 4th Edition (Visual Plumes). Environmental Research Division, NERL, ORD. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Georgia. USA

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Global Water Intelligence. (2006). The 19Th IDA World Wide Desalting Plant Inventory. Global Information, Inc. Oxford, England. Gunter. G. (1961). Salinity and size in marine fishes. Copeia 1961, 2, pp 234-235. Gunter, G. (1961). Some relations of estuarine organisms to salinity. Limnology and Oceanography 6, 2, pp 182-190. He, Z. H. Qin, J.G. Wang, Y. Jiang, H and Wen, Z. (2001). Biology of Monia

mongolica (Moinidae, Cladocera) and perspective as live food for marine fish larvae: review. Hydrobiologia 457 pp 25-37. Hiscock, K., Southward, A.J., Tittley, I. & Hawkins, S.J. (2004). Effect of changing temperature on benthic marine life in Britain and Ireland. Aquatic Conservation 14, 333-362. Hpner. T and Windelberg. J. (1996). Elements of environmental impact studies on coastal desalination plants. Desalination 108 pp 11-18. Jenkins, S. A and Wasyl, J. (2005). Oceanographic Consideration for Desalination plants in Southern California Coastal Waters. Scripps Institution of

Oceanography Technical Report No. 54. Marine Physical Laboratory, University of California, San Diego Jones, I. F and Kenny, B. C. (1971). Turbulence in Lake Huron. Water Research Pergamon Press 5, pp 765-776. Kelson. R and Crisp. G. (2006). Potable water from sea and wind. The magazine of Engineers Australia 78, 4 pp 40-41. Mann, K. H and Lazier, J, R. N. (2006).Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems, BiologicalPhysical Interactions in the Oceans. Department of Fisheries and Oceans Bedford Institute of Oceanography Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Canada. pp 390-422. Millero. F, J and Sohn. M, L. (1992). Chemical Oceanography. CRC Press, London pp 1-10. Moser. M, L and Gerry. L, R. (1989). Differential effects of salinity changes on two estuarine fishes, Leiostomus xanthurus and Micropogonias undulate. Estuaries 12, 1 pp 35-41. Murakami, M, (1995). Managing water for peace in the Middle East: Alternative Strategies. The United Nations University, New York USA. Neuparth. F. Costa. O and Costa. M.H. (2002). Effects of temperature and salinity on life history of the marine Amphipod Gammarus Locusta. Implications for ecological testing. Ecotoxicology 11, pp 61-73. 01/06/2007 34 Danoun. R

Desalination Plants
North. G, R. Schmandt, J and Clarkson. J. (1995). The impact of global warming on Texas: A report of the task force on climate change in Texas. University of Texas Press, Austin pp 68-87. Pantell, S. E. (1993). Seawater Desalination in California. California Coastal Commission. October 1993. Parry. G. (1960). The development of salinity tolerance in the salmon, Salmo Salar (L.) and some related species. Freshwater fisheries laboratory, January 1960, pp 425-434. London. Perez. K, T. (1969). An Orthokinetic response to rates of salinity change in two estuarine fishes. Ecology 50 3, pp 454-457. Securing Australias Urban Water Supplies: Opportunities and Impediments. (2007). Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Marsden Jacob Associate. Final report (30 May 2007). Swanson, J. C. Mueller, C and Barrett, S. (2006). Analysis of Intake and Discharge Salinity Regimes for a Desalination Plant. Applied Science Associates. September 2006, pp 1-5. Sydneys desalination project. (2005). Summary of the environmental assessment for public comment. Sydney Water. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2003). Desalination and Water purification technology Roadmap. Washington, DC, March 2003. Vijverberg, J. (1980). Effect of temperature in laboratory studies on development and growth of Cladocera and Ccopepoda from Tjeukemeer, the Netherlands. Freshwater Biology 10. pp 317-340 World Water Assessment Program (2003). Water for people water for life, executive summary. World water development report. The United Nation Younos. T. (2005). Environmental Issues of Desalination. Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education. Universities Council on Water Resources UCOWR 132 pp 11-18.

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Websites
Australian Government Department of the Environment and Water Resources [online]; Available http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2006/publications/drs/indicator/5/index.html (25/06/2007) Bureau of Meteorology, Commonwealth of Australia. [Online]; Available

http://www.bom.gov.au/ (25/06/ 2007). Encyclopedia of desalination and water Resources DESWARE (sustain water) [online]; Available http://www.desware.net/desa6.aspx (25/06/ 2007) Environmental Management News [online]; Available www.environmentalmanagementnews.net/storyView... (25/06/2007) Perth Water Corporation center [online]; Available http://www.watercorporation.com.au/_files/Desalination_plant2.pdf (25/06/ 2007) Sydney Water. Sydney desalination project, seawater into drinking water [online]; Available http://www.sydneywater.com.au/EnsuringTheFuture/Desalination/pdf/Desalinationfa ctsheet_Seawatertodrinkingwater.pdf#Page=1 (25/06/07) Sydney Catchment Authority Center [online]; Available http://www.sca.nsw.gov.au (25/06/ 2007). Sydneys Dam Level, I Live in Sydney [online]; Available http://www.iliveinsydney.com The Worlds Water, Pacific Institute. Information of the worlds freshwater resources [online]; Available http://www.worldwater.org (25/06/2007) United States Geographical Survey USGS, Science for a changing world [online]; Available http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/drinkseawater.html (25/06/2007) Water Corporation Center [online]; Available http://www.watercorporation.com.au (25/06/2007).

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Appendix A:

Information of desalination Plants around the world

Figure A.1 shows the usage of fresh water in all contents and in the world in three different categories domestically, industrial and agricultural.

Figure A.2 presents the existing desalination facilities worldwide by region. Source: Modified from International Desalination Association
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Figure A.3 shows growth worldwide seawater desalination facilities capacity. Source: Modified from International Desalination Association

Figure A.4 shows a cost of portable water produced using seawater desalination. Source: Modified from International Desalination Association

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Figure A.5 shows the desalination capacity for the biggest ten countries producer of desalinated water, January 1996. Source: Modified from World Waters

Figure A.6 Shows Encina Desalination plant is located on the site of the Scattergood Generating Station at the southern Coast of California.
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Figure A.7 presents a satellite image of Encina Desalination plant on the site of the Scattergood Generating Station and it shows the geographical co-ordinates lat 33.917911 and lon 118.425075. Source: Google Earth 2007.

Figure A.8 presents a satellite image for Ashkelon desalination plant in Israel; the geographical co-ordinates for this desalination plant are 313740.14 N and 343119.53 E. Source: Google Earth 2007.

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Figure A.9 shows a satellite image of Al-Jubail desalination plant on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia with a geographical co-ordinate of lat 26.901790 and lon 49.778510 . Source: Google Earth 2007.

Figure A.10 shows a satellite image for Shoaiba desalination plant on the western coast of Saudi Arabia with a geographical co-ordinate of lat 20.626805 and lon 39.557861. Source: Google Earth 2007.

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Figure A.11 shows a satellite image for Al-Khobar desalination plant on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia with a geographical co-ordinate of lat 26.179116 and lon 50.208096. Source: Google Earth 2007.

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Figure A.13 shows Annual inflows for South-West Dams (Western Australia) from 1911-2003. Source: Modified from Water Corporation.

Figure A.14 shows the annual inflows for Wivenhoe dam (south-east Queensland) (Securing Australias, 2007).

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Figure A.15 shows a satellite image of Perth desalination plant; the geographical co-ordinates for this desalination plant are (lat -32.202856 and lon 115.772812). Source: Google Earth 2007.

Figure A.16 shows an aerial photo of Kurnell desalination plant site at Botany Bay in Sydney. Source: Sydney Water, 2007.

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9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

HCl + High Alkalinity Seawater Sample

PH

HCl Volume
Chart A.1 shows acidified procedure by adding hydrochloric acid to the high alkalinity seawater sample to reach PH = 3.5.

7 6 5

NaOH + Acidified Water Sample

PH

4 3 2 1 0 0 1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

NaOH Volume
Chart A. 2 shows the procedure of adding sodium hydroxide to the acidified seawater sample to obtain PH = 6.

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26 26 .4

10

12

14

16 18

20

22

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Figure A.17 shows the modeled tide direction around the outfall of the Scattergood generating and desalination plant (Encina desalination plant). Source: (Jenkins et al, 2005)

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Figure A.18 shows the modeled wave height during the storm of 13 January 1993 with 2.25 m high in the area around the Scattergood generating and desalination plant and how that might affects the current plume discharge brine from the desalination plant. Source: (Jenkins et al, 2005).

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Appendix B
Numbers and capacity of desalination plants worldwide
Year Numbers of Plants 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1 0 5 1 4 5 2 14 7 13 13 26 18 8 21 23 18 20 24 24 Installed Capacity (m3/d) 326 2,461 114 2,960 3,000 446 7,295 7,096 15,879 7,113 13,310 8,232 5,758 29,315 19,742 10,055 28,314 40,282 21,761

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1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 27 37 23 53 37 54 78 70 160 166 176 191 257 224 280 304 235 307 284 330 316 341 295 304 319 324 43,842 38,842 53,760 116,887 179,499 115,358 272,358 109,729 256,816 228,701 484,941 241,856 451,860 572,873 676,744 963,998 419,997 860,906 1,636,511 815,495 1,118,472 619,837 633,634 1,050,311 884,050 936,610

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1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total 275 336 308 372 476 415 384 400 343 457 409 346 266 176 10,402 611,609 918,189 822.755 931,244 1,580,061 1,277,372 1, 534,241 1,535,182 1,290,485 1,791,110 1,796,573 1,644,347 2,872,564 3,014,296 35,627,374

Table B.2 shows the installed desalination capacity by year, number of plants 1945-2004. Source: The Worlds Water.
Country Total Capacity (cubic meters/day) 5,006,194 2,799,000 2,134.233 1,284,327 638,337 637,900 560,764 492,824 483,668 423,427 50 Danoun. R

Saudi Arabia United States United Arab Emirates Kuwait Libya Japan Qatar Spain Italy Iran 01/06/2007

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Iraq Bahrain Korea Netherlands Antilles Algeria Hong Kong Oman Kazakhstan Malta Singapore Russia India Holland Mexico Indonesia Egypt Great Britain Taiwan Israel Chile Australia South Africa Virgin Island St. Croix Tunisia Virgin Islands St. Thomas Turkmenistan Bahamas Yemen Canada Greece Virgin Islands Tortola Uzbekistan France Antigua Peru Thailand Ukraine Poland Gibraltar Morocco 01/06/2007 51 324,476 282,955 265,957 210,905 190,837 183,079 180,621 167,379 145,031 133,695 116,140 115,509 110,438 105,146 103,244 102,051 101,397 101,180 90,387 83,509 82,129 79,531 71,940 47,402 46,807 43,707 37,474 36,996 35,629 35,620 31,702 31,200 29,112 28,533 24,538 24,075 21,000 20,564 20,079 19,700 Danoun. R

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Venezuela Cuba Lebanon Cayman Islands Maldives Argentina Austria Malaysia Bermudas Azerbaijan Belarus Czech Republic Capo Verde French Antigua Colombia Jordan Sahara Cyprus Jamaica Nigeria Denmark Portugal Philippines Syria Pakistan Mauritania Ecuador Belgium Ireland Marshall Island Switzerland Yugoslavia Sudan Ascension Bulgaria Sweden Norway Nauru Pacific Dominican Republic Namibia 01/06/2007 52 19,629 18,926 17,083 16,986 16,940 15,540 14,540 13,699 13,171 12,680 12,640 11,085 10,500 10,400 7,165 7,131 7,002 6,275 6,094 6,000 5,960 5,920 5,648 5,488 4,560 4,440 4,433 3,900 2,725 2,650 2,506 2,204 1,450 1,362 1,320 1,300 1,200 1,136 1,135 1,090 Danoun. R

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Brazil Paraguay Belize Virgin Islands Handsome Bay Virgin Islands Road Town Honduras Turks and Caicos Turkey Virgin Islands St. John Hungary Total Capacity of 100 countries 1,079 1,000 757 681 681 651 640 600 568 500 16,521,319

Table B.1 shows the desalination capacity by country from the largest to the least producer, updated 1999. Source: The Worlds Water.

Arabian Gulf Countries

Saudi Arabia Kuwait United Arab Emirates Bahrain Qatar Oman Total

Capacity Number of Units

874 279 99 143 47 41 1,483

(1,000 m3/day)
2,980 1,090 1,020 260 310 100 5,760

Table B.3 shows the number of units and the capacity production per thousands cubic meters per day of desalination plants in all states in Arabian Gulf area in 1990 (Murakami, 1995).

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Desalination Plants Desalination plant

Capacity million gallon per day Constructed date

Al-Jubail

Shoaiba

Al-Khobar

246.7 1988

107.3 2001-2003

50.7 2002

Geographical position

Eastern Coast

Western Coast

Eastern Coast

Table B.4 presents the three chief desalination plants in Saudi Arabia with the date of construction started, geographical position and the production capacity of fresh water

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Acknowledgements
First and foremost I would like to extend my thanks to Prof. Ian. S. F. Jones for providing the topic and guiding me through the project. I appreciate all the valuable time spent to guide me along the course of this year. Thanks also to Associate Prof. Phil Mulhearn for his advice and for helping me with details of the programs and methods. I would also like to thank Sally so much for being there listening to me about my project and life in general.

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