21 January 2003
KUWAIT: Kuwait, as a part of the arid belt that stretches across the Middle East and North Africa, suffers from the shortage of natural water resources. Till the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of Kuwait exploited the small accumulations of infiltrated rainwater below the surface depressions through shallow dug wells to meet their water needs. As the population expanded, the need for additional supply of water was felt. Beginning in 1925, fresh water from Shatt-Al-Arab in Iraq began to be brought in dhows (boats) using barrels. In 1939, a company was established to run a fleet of water carriers from Shatt-Al-Arab. By 1946, the company had 45 carries from in its fleet with a continuous water transport rate of about 363,500 litres per day.
With the first shipment of oil from Kuwait in 1946, the oil era began and the country had the fund for implementing modern techniques for water production. In 1951, Kuwait became the first country in the Arabian Gulf region to introduce desalination of seawater when Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) erected a small (36,370 l/d) seawater desa1ination plant at Mina Al-Ahmadi and piped part of the water to Kuwait
City. In 1953, the first distillation plant with a capacity of 4550 m3/d was commissioned in Shuwaikh by the government of Kuwait.
Before the end of the fifties, tour desalination units, each with 2275 m3/d capacity that utilised the flash technique were operational. From 18,185 m3/d capacity in 1959, the desalination capacity reached 104,560 m3/d in 1969. Finally, in the early seventies, the multi-stage flash technique was introduced in Kuwait for seawater desalination. Due to the destruction caused to the infrastructure by the Iraqi occupiers during 1990-91, the installed distil1ation capacity decreased from 1.155 Mm3/d in 1989 to 0,982 Mm3/d just after the liberation. With the necessary repairs, augmentation of capacity and installation of new units, by 2001, the distillation capacity reach 1.435 Mm3/d.
The average daily demand of freshwater stood at 1.14 Mm3/d in 2001. The maximum consumption during July 2001 hit at 1.33 Mm3/d.
The average per capita consumption in that year was 494 l/c/d. Compared with industrialised and other developing countries, the average annual growth rate of freshwater consumption in Kuwait and the current consumption rate are very high.
Brackish ground water (salinity 3000-4000 mg/l) exists in the Dammam Formation and the Kuwait Group aquifers of Kuwait in the central and southwestern parts of the country. MEW started exploitation of these aquifers in 1953 when it started supplying the Kuwait City with brackish water from the Sulaibiya Field for the irrigation purposes. Five fields (A - E) were developed in the Shigaya area of south central Kuwait during seventies. The Umm Gudair water field in south Kuwait was commissioned in 1987. KOC exploits the Al Wafra and the Al-Abdaliya fields. Besides, individual farmers pump the brackish ground water from the Kuwait Group aquifer for irrigation in the farming areas of Al-Wafra in the south and Al-Abdali in the north. The current installed capacity of brackish water production from the MEW fields is 545,520 m3/d. As of 2001, MEW and KOC were producing 137 Mm3 and 8.6 Mm3 of brackish water, respectively, annually.
The current withdrawals of groundwater in the farm areas of Wafra and Abdally are estimated to be 300,000 -400,000 m3/d in each of the areas. Brackish groundwater is mainly used for irrigation and landscaping, livestock rearing, construction work, non-potable use in households and for mixing with desalinated water to the extent of 10 per cent of the total volume to make the mixture potable. The maximum daily net consumption (not including blending requirements and the consumption by RO units) of brackish water during the summer of 2001 reached 439,600 m3/d with yearly average at 374,590 m3/d.
Kuwait has some limited volume of fresh ground water in the northern part of the country. Two fields (Raudhatain and Umm Al-Aish) were established in this area in 1962. The estimated natural fresh water reserve in these two fields is about 182 Mm3. After the Iraqi invasion, the Umm Al-Aish Field was shut down as it was totally destroyed. The maximum daily production from the Raudhatain field has been limited to 2275 m3/d to preserve the water quality and lengthen the life of the field. Rawdatain Bottling Company produced 50,000 m3 of water from this field during 2001, with no production by MEW.
Currently, treated municipal wastewater is also considered a useful recyclable resource for irrigation and other non-potable need. The total daily flow of the municipal wastewater in 1999 at the three treatment plants in operation (Ardiya, Riqqa and Jahra) was 404,060 m3/d.
The mean volume of tertiary treated wastewater produced was 369,000 m3d. It has been estimated that the daily production of treated wastewater will reach 635,600 m3/d by the year 2015. Field trial by Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has demonstrated the applicability of the soil aquifer treatment (SAT) technique for the improvement of the quality of treated wastewater in Kuwait. A study, completed by KISR in 1997, has demonstrated further that it is possible to produce excellent water quality, almost free from salts and pathogens that can be used for unrestricted irrigation/landscaping, by processing the tertiary treated wastewater using RO technique. The process is also economic. Based on this study, the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is planning to establish a plant that will process tertiary treated wastewater through RO process. It is expected that by the year 2004, the plant will produce about 260000 m3/d of treated wastewater. This volume should increase to 520,000 m3/d by the year 2030. It is planned that the treated water will be used for irrigation, artificial recharge of the aquifers, and for recreational purposes. The current requirement of water for landscaping (2001-2005) has been estimated to he 225,480 m3/d. By 2011, this is projected to reach 562,795 m3/d. Thus, a large part of the water requirement for landscaping can be met from the water produced by the plant.
Econometric and other models for estimation of freshwater demand in Kuwait have recently been developed in KISR. The models suggest that by 2025, the freshwater demand can be anywhere in the range of 722 Mm3/year (2 Mm3/d) to 3036 Md/year (8.3 Mm3/d).
Additional desalination plant capacity over that available in 2000 required to meet this demand will range between 1.2 Mm3/d and 9.1 Mm3/d, necessitating an investment that may range anywhere from $1.6 billion to $11.8 billion. No detailed study on the historical growth of brackish water demand in Kuwait and its projection in future has been carried out so far. Extrapolating the consumption trend from the past, the expected demand for brackish water in the year 2025 may reach 280 Mm3/year (770,000 m3/d). This estimate does not take into account the production in the two farm areas (Wafra and Abdally), where current withdrawal is estimated in the range of 600,000 - 800,000 m3/d.
To satisfy the steady increase in demand for water is posing a great challenge to the country that is starved of significant natural water resources. Various means of controlling and meeting the rising demand are being investigated. Water is a highly subsidised (to the extent of 60 per cent) commodity in Kuwait. The reduction and ultimately elimination of this high subsidy is expected to curb the consumption substantially. The increase in population is another major factor in the rise of water consumption. The major part of the growth in population is due to the influx of expatriate workers and their families. The future immigration policy of the government should have a strong impact on the rate of rise of water demand in the country.
There is a difference of about 200,000 - 300,000 m3/d between the peak summer and winter demands for fresh water in Kuwait. On an average, an excess capacity of 290,000 m3/d was available in the desalination plants in 2001. A part of this idle capacity can be utilised in producing water, especially during the winter months that can be stored in the aquifers through artificial recharge. The aquifer storage is cheaper than building surface storage. The stored water may be recovered during the summer months to meet the extra demand, thus reducing the load on the desalination plants and extending their working life. Besides, aquifer storage can be used in supplying water to the population in a major crisis when partial or total loss of desalination capacity may result from vandalism, major political crisis, or environmental disaster.
A large volume of water (both brackish and fresh) is used by the residential sector for gardening. One of the possible alternatives is the use of reclaimed municipal wastewater for gardening and oilier non-potable necessities. To maximise the utilisation of wastewater in the urban areas for the irrigation purpose, public aversion to the reuse of reclaimed wastewater has to be removed through suitable publicity.
Apart from the above steps, the linkage of the water networks of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, installation of water-saving equipment within the residential homes, public utility buildings and commercial centres and the minimisation of the loss of water from pipeline leakage through proper maintenance of die networks should also result in the rationalisation of water use. In the conclusion, both the administrators and the users should cooperate with each other in managing the available water resources in a responsible way to
ensure the sustainable development of the country.
KUWAIT: Kuwait, as a part of the arid belt that stretches across the Middle East and North Africa, suffers from the shortage of natural water resources. Till the early part of the twentieth century, the inhabitants of Kuwait exploited the small accumulations of infiltrated rainwater below the surface depressions through shallow dug wells to meet their water needs. As the population expanded, the need for additional supply of water was felt. Beginning in 1925, fresh water from Shatt-Al-Arab in Iraq began to be brought in dhows (boats) using barrels. In 1939, a company was established to run a fleet of water carriers from Shatt-Al-Arab. By 1946, the company had 45 carries from in its fleet with a continuous water transport rate of about 363,500 litres per day.
With the first shipment of oil from Kuwait in 1946, the oil era began and the country had the fund for implementing modern techniques for water production. In 1951, Kuwait became the first country in the Arabian Gulf region to introduce desalination of seawater when Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) erected a small (36,370 l/d) seawater desa1ination plant at Mina Al-Ahmadi and piped part of the water to Kuwait
City. In 1953, the first distillation plant with a capacity of 4550 m3/d was commissioned in Shuwaikh by the government of Kuwait.
Before the end of the fifties, tour desalination units, each with 2275 m3/d capacity that utilised the flash technique were operational. From 18,185 m3/d capacity in 1959, the desalination capacity reached 104,560 m3/d in 1969. Finally, in the early seventies, the multi-stage flash technique was introduced in Kuwait for seawater desalination. Due to the destruction caused to the infrastructure by the Iraqi occupiers during 1990-91, the installed distil1ation capacity decreased from 1.155 Mm3/d in 1989 to 0,982 Mm3/d just after the liberation. With the necessary repairs, augmentation of capacity and installation of new units, by 2001, the distillation capacity reach 1.435 Mm3/d.
The average daily demand of freshwater stood at 1.14 Mm3/d in 2001. The maximum consumption during July 2001 hit at 1.33 Mm3/d.
The average per capita consumption in that year was 494 l/c/d. Compared with industrialised and other developing countries, the average annual growth rate of freshwater consumption in Kuwait and the current consumption rate are very high.
Brackish ground water (salinity 3000-4000 mg/l) exists in the Dammam Formation and the Kuwait Group aquifers of Kuwait in the central and southwestern parts of the country. MEW started exploitation of these aquifers in 1953 when it started supplying the Kuwait City with brackish water from the Sulaibiya Field for the irrigation purposes. Five fields (A - E) were developed in the Shigaya area of south central Kuwait during seventies. The Umm Gudair water field in south Kuwait was commissioned in 1987. KOC exploits the Al Wafra and the Al-Abdaliya fields. Besides, individual farmers pump the brackish ground water from the Kuwait Group aquifer for irrigation in the farming areas of Al-Wafra in the south and Al-Abdali in the north. The current installed capacity of brackish water production from the MEW fields is 545,520 m3/d. As of 2001, MEW and KOC were producing 137 Mm3 and 8.6 Mm3 of brackish water, respectively, annually.
The current withdrawals of groundwater in the farm areas of Wafra and Abdally are estimated to be 300,000 -400,000 m3/d in each of the areas. Brackish groundwater is mainly used for irrigation and landscaping, livestock rearing, construction work, non-potable use in households and for mixing with desalinated water to the extent of 10 per cent of the total volume to make the mixture potable. The maximum daily net consumption (not including blending requirements and the consumption by RO units) of brackish water during the summer of 2001 reached 439,600 m3/d with yearly average at 374,590 m3/d.
Kuwait has some limited volume of fresh ground water in the northern part of the country. Two fields (Raudhatain and Umm Al-Aish) were established in this area in 1962. The estimated natural fresh water reserve in these two fields is about 182 Mm3. After the Iraqi invasion, the Umm Al-Aish Field was shut down as it was totally destroyed. The maximum daily production from the Raudhatain field has been limited to 2275 m3/d to preserve the water quality and lengthen the life of the field. Rawdatain Bottling Company produced 50,000 m3 of water from this field during 2001, with no production by MEW.
Currently, treated municipal wastewater is also considered a useful recyclable resource for irrigation and other non-potable need. The total daily flow of the municipal wastewater in 1999 at the three treatment plants in operation (Ardiya, Riqqa and Jahra) was 404,060 m3/d.
The mean volume of tertiary treated wastewater produced was 369,000 m3d. It has been estimated that the daily production of treated wastewater will reach 635,600 m3/d by the year 2015. Field trial by Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) has demonstrated the applicability of the soil aquifer treatment (SAT) technique for the improvement of the quality of treated wastewater in Kuwait. A study, completed by KISR in 1997, has demonstrated further that it is possible to produce excellent water quality, almost free from salts and pathogens that can be used for unrestricted irrigation/landscaping, by processing the tertiary treated wastewater using RO technique. The process is also economic. Based on this study, the Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is planning to establish a plant that will process tertiary treated wastewater through RO process. It is expected that by the year 2004, the plant will produce about 260000 m3/d of treated wastewater. This volume should increase to 520,000 m3/d by the year 2030. It is planned that the treated water will be used for irrigation, artificial recharge of the aquifers, and for recreational purposes. The current requirement of water for landscaping (2001-2005) has been estimated to he 225,480 m3/d. By 2011, this is projected to reach 562,795 m3/d. Thus, a large part of the water requirement for landscaping can be met from the water produced by the plant.
Econometric and other models for estimation of freshwater demand in Kuwait have recently been developed in KISR. The models suggest that by 2025, the freshwater demand can be anywhere in the range of 722 Mm3/year (2 Mm3/d) to 3036 Md/year (8.3 Mm3/d).
Additional desalination plant capacity over that available in 2000 required to meet this demand will range between 1.2 Mm3/d and 9.1 Mm3/d, necessitating an investment that may range anywhere from $1.6 billion to $11.8 billion. No detailed study on the historical growth of brackish water demand in Kuwait and its projection in future has been carried out so far. Extrapolating the consumption trend from the past, the expected demand for brackish water in the year 2025 may reach 280 Mm3/year (770,000 m3/d). This estimate does not take into account the production in the two farm areas (Wafra and Abdally), where current withdrawal is estimated in the range of 600,000 - 800,000 m3/d.
To satisfy the steady increase in demand for water is posing a great challenge to the country that is starved of significant natural water resources. Various means of controlling and meeting the rising demand are being investigated. Water is a highly subsidised (to the extent of 60 per cent) commodity in Kuwait. The reduction and ultimately elimination of this high subsidy is expected to curb the consumption substantially. The increase in population is another major factor in the rise of water consumption. The major part of the growth in population is due to the influx of expatriate workers and their families. The future immigration policy of the government should have a strong impact on the rate of rise of water demand in the country.
There is a difference of about 200,000 - 300,000 m3/d between the peak summer and winter demands for fresh water in Kuwait. On an average, an excess capacity of 290,000 m3/d was available in the desalination plants in 2001. A part of this idle capacity can be utilised in producing water, especially during the winter months that can be stored in the aquifers through artificial recharge. The aquifer storage is cheaper than building surface storage. The stored water may be recovered during the summer months to meet the extra demand, thus reducing the load on the desalination plants and extending their working life. Besides, aquifer storage can be used in supplying water to the population in a major crisis when partial or total loss of desalination capacity may result from vandalism, major political crisis, or environmental disaster.
A large volume of water (both brackish and fresh) is used by the residential sector for gardening. One of the possible alternatives is the use of reclaimed municipal wastewater for gardening and oilier non-potable necessities. To maximise the utilisation of wastewater in the urban areas for the irrigation purpose, public aversion to the reuse of reclaimed wastewater has to be removed through suitable publicity.
Apart from the above steps, the linkage of the water networks of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries, installation of water-saving equipment within the residential homes, public utility buildings and commercial centres and the minimisation of the loss of water from pipeline leakage through proper maintenance of die networks should also result in the rationalisation of water use. In the conclusion, both the administrators and the users should cooperate with each other in managing the available water resources in a responsible way to
ensure the sustainable development of the country.
© Kuwait Times 2003
