A new case for promoting wastewater reuse in Saudi Arabia: Bringing energy into the water equation

CATEGORY: WATER CONSERVATION AND REUSE
Journal of Environmental Management, Volume 102, 15 July 2012, Pages 184–192
A new case for promoting wastewater reuse in Saudi Arabia: Bringing energy into the water equation
Arani Kajenthira a 1
Afreen Siddiqi b 2
Laura Diaz Anadona, 1,
a Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, USA
b Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Abstract
As the third-largest per capita water user worldwide, Saudi Arabia has addressed the disparity between its renewable water resources and domestic demand primarily through desalination and the abstraction of non-renewable groundwater.  Authors evaluate the potential costs of this approach in the industrial and municipal sectors, exploring economic, energy, and environmental costs, including CO2 emissions and possible coastal impacts.
Although the energy intensity of desalination is a global concern, it is particularly urgent to rethink water supply options in Saudi Arabia because the entirety of its natural gas production is consumed domestically, primarily in petrochemical and desalination plants.  Burgeoning demand requires the development of more expensive high-sulfur gas resources that could make desalination even pricier. Authors suggest that in Saudi Arabia, the implementation of increased water conservation and reuse across the oil and natural gas sectors could conserve up to 29% of total industrial water withdrawals at costs recovered over 0–30 years, depending on the specific improvement.
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