Desalination “unavoidable” for Jordan

Desalination is “an unavoidable option” for Jordan, said Prof Mousa Mohsen from The Hashemite University, when he addressed the opening ceremony of the EuroMed Conference on the shores of the Dead Sea on 10 November 2008.

Among his listeners at the conference, organised by the European Desalination Society (EDS), was the Jordanian king’s brother, Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein with members of the cabinet.

Prof Mohsen pointed out that Jordan had one of the lowest per-capital water availability in the world at 175 m³/y, coupled with an “alarming” rate of population increase. He also made a call for regional cooperation to overcome the problem of water scarcity, which he said threatened Jordan’s development.

EDS president, Lute Broens, coupled water with energy, observing that energy demand in Jordan was rising by 10%/y and would be up by 50% in 20 years. He tasked his audience with taking up the challenges posed by the new era of water and energy which was just beginning. This had not been done in the previous era stemming from the Industrial Revolution.

The conference ended on 12 November 2008.