The desalination industry must better understand its role in changes currently occurring in the Arabian Gulf, Bahrain’s minister of electricity and water affairs, Eng Fahmi bin Ali Al Jowder, told an environmental symposium in Manama on 6 December 2010 organised by the International Desalination Association.
The minister also charged the industry with ensuring that it took steps to protect the Gulf for future generations.
“This path will be documented in a landmark Blue Paper to be provided to governments and users of desalination around the Gulf,” the minister told the meeting. “These discussions may, therefore, influence how we operate current desalination plants, as well as how we design and operate future plants.”
Around 20% of the 36 million m³/d world capacity of seawater desalination is in the Gulf. Over 12 million m³/d is produced in the region from a total abstraction of 40-60 million m³/d..
Designed to be interactive, the IDA symposium includes fact-finding and analysis by many of the world’s foremost experts – some of whom are members of a new IDA Environmental Task Force – followed by facilitated discussion among participants to explore each issue in greater depth.