Environmental Assessment of Natural & Anthropogenic Hazards and Impact on Seawater Desalination along Red Sea Coast of Saudi Arabia

Omar Siraj Aburizaiza, Nayyer Alam Zaigham, Zeeshan A. Nayyar, Gohar A. Mahar, Azhar Siddiq, Sabahat Noor

Unit for Ain Zubaida Rehabilitation & Groundwater Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, KSA.
University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2013.54041                

Abstract

The major part of the eastern coastline of Red Sea belongs to Saudi Arabia, which provides great potential for desalination activities, but not entirely free of risk as in general it is not environment-friendly. In recent years, the rapid urbanization processes on west coast of Kingdom have resulted in substantial growth of commercial and industrial centers that added to more water demand. As a consequence, reliance on desalinated water has increased markedly over the last few decades. As a leading producer of desalinated water, Saudi Arabia used to process more than 3.29 million m³/day from its plants along the Red Sea coast. At the same time, any adequate backup plan lacks to meet regular water demand(s) in case of unforeseen emergencies. Present integrated research studies have identified some of the natural and anthropogenic hazards, which may pose major threats to quality of seawater as well as to the desalination facilities themselves. In view of these hazardous conditions, the overwhelming dependence on seawater desalination appears to be in jeopardy and may affect water management strategy and future socioeconomic development. It is therefore suggested the need of alternate options for cultivation of standby water resources and other management strategies parallel to the seawater desalination on similar priorities.

Keywords

Natural Hazards; Red Sea; Desalination; Water Management; Saudi Arabia

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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