University Preparatory Course, Nazarbayev University

FIRST DRAFT

The Environment

Water shortage in the Middle East region: What are the most effective solutions to avoid future crisis?

(Preparatory project)

(Name of Student)

Tutor: XYZ

Date of submission: January 11, 2011

Word count: 1130

University Preparatory Course, Nazarbayev University

The Middle East suffers from urgent water scarcity. Countries of this region feel more intense need for freshwater compared to any other region in the world (Baroudy 2005, 15). This region is thought to be one of the most drought places in the world; most of its territory is deserted. Freshwater accounts for 1 percent of the world’s supplies, while the population comes to 5 percent of the whole humanity (Baroudy 2005, 15). And this problem seems to become worse day after day.For instance, from the middle of the 20-th century demand on freshwater has increased three times. And this statistics will continue to grow with population rise and industrial development. Obviously, water scarcity is a huge problem, because it may have a number of economical, social and political consequences. Bad harvest entailed with famine is one of them (Brown L. 2008, 16). Also lack of water for elementary daily needs will increase risk of spreading such diseases as typhoid, cholera and dysentery (World Health Organization 2009). Moreover, disastrous water shortage in the Middle East may change an existent struggle into regional conflicts between countries. It is evident that this problem needs to be immediately solved. There are a few possible solutions, such as wastewater treatment, seawater desalination and water management; some of them are already being applied. Each one has some benefits and drawbacks, but the three aforementioned solutions are the best, as they solve not only the water scarcity problem, but also some ecological disasters. Further, in this essay we will discuss and evaluate proposed solutions.

Firstly, one possible solution of great potential is wastewater treatment. With increasing consumption the amount of dumped water increases respectively. Incredible water shortage in the Middle East region constrains countries to reuse this water for many purposes. Treated wastewater can be used in agriculture, industry, recharging aquifers (Middle East Water Shortage). This method leads to conservation of traditional sources of water which further can be used “for meeting the demand for higher-quality water such as that for drinking, or for high value-added industrial and agricultural uses.” But there are some problems connected with leading treatment into usage. One of them is health and environmental risks (Baroudy 2005, 25-35). Purified in such way water contains bacteria, viruses and parasites (Middle East Water Shortage). Use of treated water can cause different infectious and gastrointestinal diseases. According to Baroudy even contact with this water sometimes can cause allergies and other dermatological illnesses (2005, 25-35). Moreover, another problem is that this water contains some biological and chemical matter dissolved in it, which can obstruct soil pores. Clogged soil has less ability for leaking which leads to bad irrigation efficiencies (Middle East Water Shortage). But, of course, some standards with the purpose to limit these effects were elaborated. Even so, toughening standards require financial investments (Baroudy 2005, 25-35). In addition, process of wastewater treatment requires special equipment and construction of special water treatment plant. Strict standards demand improved systems of treatment which need much more money.

Secondly, as the world practice shows another possible solution is desalination of seawater. “The Middle East, which has abundant energy supplies and little alternative water sources, is the biggest user of desalination. About 60 percent of the world’s desalination plants are in the Gulf” (D. Brown 2007, 22). The main advantage of water desalination is availability of salt water in a big amount. In addition, this method does not depend on drought and climate. One problem, though, is that process of desalination requires much power input. For example, distillation demands large amounts of energy. This process usually entails burning minerals, which is not only economically inefficient but also harms ecology, because of the combustion materials emission. So, desalination may aggravate global warming by polluting atmosphere with greenhouse gases, hence worsen the water shortage problem. On the other hand, as technologies are changing, the power input and gas emissions are decreasing. New technologies instead of customary distillation are appearing, one of them is reverse osmosis membrane technology. It considerably changes the amount of energy used, as water does not change its physical state from water into steam. However, in spite of energy economy this process remains expensive. For example, in Israel cost of desalted water is “52-55 US cents per cubic meter for big plants, excluding delivery to the consumer. The cost of water from smaller plants is slightly higher, while treating of brackish or polluted water is cheaper.” Although energy consumption is being reduced but it is still very high, “it usually exceeds 50 percent of the total cost.” As the desalination is the project of many millions of US dollars, charges on energy supply are too high. Nevertheless, there is a solution - alternative inexhaustible sources of energy, such as solar or wind energy (Davidson 2005, 23-25). On the other hand, desalination will solve the global problem of rising sea levels because of melting down icebergs (Conway 2008, 23-24).

Nevertheless, it is more efficient and inexpensive to better manage water rather than invest in new methods (Davidson 2005, 23-25). As it was mentioned above, Middle East concentrates 5 percent of the Earth’s population, but water supply is only 1 percent of the world’s. Solution is to maximize efficiency of use, to learn to take most from the sources we have (2005). First of all, it is important to reduce consumption of water by main consumers like agriculture and industry. According to L.R. Brown, “70 percent of all water use is for irrigation, 20 percent is used for industry and 10 percent for residential purposes.” In agriculture using fertilizers with new drought-resistant sorts of plants will appreciably improve the situation. Furthermore, the irrigation systems must be improved too. Shifting from traditional flood and furrow systems to “sprinklers or drip irrigation” will economize water in enormous amounts. But putting new systems into operation will need adjustment of water irrigation systems and using new water-efficient household appliances. (2008, 16-22) Consequently, it will lead to reorganization of national economy’s structure and citizens’ way of life.

Finally, as the recent reports and statistics show water shortage problem is a burning question for the Middle East region. Many actions are applied to avoid future crisis. And the best applicable ones are wastewater treatment, sea water desalination and efficient use of available water sources. As they have necessary initial material for appliance and future trends for development. Actually, constructing and further use of these methods will cause some problems but advantage of water treatment and desalination is that they not only solve water shortage problem, but also some ecological disasters like water pollution and elevation of the sea level. Though some possible solutions were found, water shortage in the Middle East remains one of the principle problems to be solved; other more appropriate solutions should be being investigated.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14