1. Costly need of GCC Countries
and the UAE
Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi
JP MNZIM MD DPH MACP MRACGP DAB PhD

2. AbstrAct
The earth’s surface is mostly covered by water, only one
percent of the total global water resources can be termed
as fresh or drinkable while a considerable proportion of 97
percent is saline.
Many countries are therefore gratified to drain off out
clean water from the oceans in a process known as
desalination.
A World Bank report (2007) while raising the alarm on the
undecided attitude of the GCC countries that are more
concentrated on supply while ignoring the need to curb
the demand warned that by 2050. 2
Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA
01/22/16

3. The per capita water supply will be condensed by half if
conservation and policy changes are not addressed.
The water problem has been further goaded by the rapid
population growth among the GCC countries, by the
unreasonably high average daily water consumption per
capita which is one of the highest in the world averaging
at between 300 – 750 liters daily.
A new system developed by a German-based ecological
research firm has promised a ground-breaking procedure
that would reduce the prevalent problem of unsafe waste
from extracted seawater .
3Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

4.  It is apparent that the future of the water supply in these
countries is uncertain due to the over reliance on thermal
technology.
This paper addresses the need to look at other sources of
energy to power the desalination plants and to scrutinize
the environmental concerns.
4Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

5. IntroductIon
The Arabian Gulf region is immensely gifted with
some of the world’s foremost in demand energy
deposits. Crude oil and Natural gas.
But is contrastingly scarce of the most valuable
human resource, fresh water.
The region’s scorched surroundings is lying on
top of the world’s major oil reserves.
It is also home to some of the harshest climatic
conditions making it almost inhabitable.
5Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

6. The developmental gap relating the supply and
demand for water within the GCC countries can
be ascribed to the inadequate reachable surface
water.
 High population increase and urbanization
development, Meager institutional planning,
pitiable organizational strategies, water reduction
and waning water quality, predominantly in
shallow groundwater aquifers.
Understanding in the GCC countries divulge that
desalination equipment has developed to a level
where it can offer a consistent supply of water at a
cost equivalent to that employed by conservative
water sources. 6Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

7. bAckground And MAIn
chArActerIstIcs
The Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf
(GCC) countries which encompass Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates
inhabit most of the Arabian Peninsula sharing similar
economic, social, and physiographical characteristics.
The fast population growth and fast socioeconomic
evolution have not been equally matched by the
availability of water resources.
On the other hand, need of closely controlled and well-
organized use of the scanty water resources available has
been cited as a contributory factor to the poor state of
affairs (Dawoud, 2008).
7Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

8. The widespread prosperity generated from the rich oil
revenues which accounts for a third of total GDP, three-
fourths of government revenues and exports among the
GCC economies.
The drastic changes are exemplified by the rapid rise in
life expectancy by ten years between 1980 to 2000 to 74
years and literacy rates rising from 20 percent to 80
percent within the same period.
Equally by 2002, the standard per capita income reached a
high of $12,000 while the cumulative GDP of the GCC
countries was approximately $340 billion (World Bank &
AGFUND, 2005).
8Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

9. However the heavy faith on oil revenues has rendered the
GCC countries defenseless to the fickle oil market price
swings.
Even though the earth’s surface is typically covered by
water, only one percent of the total global water resources
can be termed as fresh or drinkable .
Whereas a considerable proportion of 97 percent is saline.
Many countries are therefore appreciative to draw off out
disinfected water from the oceans.
9Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

10. For the GCC countries, owing to their closeness to the
Arabian Gulf, the ocean is their key resource for
desalinated seawater to enlarge the shrinking supplies of
potable water.
The irony is that the impact of the crucial desalination
plants just leads to more salinity for the gulf waters as the
remains salt water is streamed back into the ocean.
The brine, a surplus derived of the desalination processes,
is composed of a highly intense salty solution that has
double the salinity set up in the seawater (Barwani &
Purnama, 2008).
10Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

11. WAter resources eAse of use
And usAge In the gcc
countrIes
The World Health Organization (WHO) promotes for a
minimum of 150 liters daily for each individual in a
household for any normal hygienic survival (Al-Gobaisi,
1999); (Marcuello, 2000).
The United Nations orders water scarcity as that of figures
falling below 1,000 cubic meters per capita of average
water supply yearly.
They GCC countries obtain two-thirds of their water
supplies from the desalinated seawater and the region has
stiffed over 65 percent of the world’s desalination plants
(Hamid, 2009).
11Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

12. WAter resource And
AgrIculture
Water scarcity not only forces food production and
economic growth, but it also presents a risk to the
continued existence of all natural scheme.
The key water consumers are Saudi Arabia at 78
percent followed by the UAE at 14 percent.
There are three water sources available in the GCC
countries series from groundwater to seawater
desalination and recycled sewerage treated water
(STW);
12Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

13. Groundwater Source
Some partial surface water is also found in the coastal
zone along the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia and along the Gulf
of Oman on the eastern shore.
They are also forced by the lack of any renewable annual
freshwater resources.
The dilemma is further acerbated by the fact that the per
capita freshwater resources is likely to decline by one-half
to about 94cubic meters as early as 2030 based on a
anticipated populace swelling.
With only Saudi Arabia having some major quantities
(approximately 430 billion m3) of non-renewable
groundwater in deep aquifers, that are reduced at an
alarming rate, the GCC countries are confronted by vast
fresh water crisis. 13Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

14. deSalination
To cope with the limited water resources, the GCC
countries have resulted to produce water from the ocean
in a desalination process of seawater for the past 20-30
years.
The desalination process chiefly employed is Multi-Stage-
Flash (MSF) distillation, which has usually been viewed as
the most cheap and financially feasible.
Other popular new techniques now considered include
the Reverse Osmosis (RO) process as falling costs,
improvement in reliability on membrane technologies and
growth in the energy recovery have made it robustly
gainful.
Although the fiscal cost of processing desalination
seawater has been reduction globally, averaging $0.70 per 14Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

15. coSt of deSalination
and riSinG PoPulation
The GCC countries are also tackled by the enormous
investment expenditure critical to set up additional
desalination plants due to the rapidly expanding urban
population.
The GCC countries are mainly reliant on foreign workers,
the growing economies will also accordingly need more
pioneer toil force.
The water problem is more aggravated by the illogically
high average daily water use per capita which is one of the
peak in the world.
This is evident in Kuwait where people used to consume
an average of 200 liters of water in the 1980s to the current
use of 500 liters per capita. 15Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

16. water from rainfall
The usual annual rainfall within the GCC countries is a
paltry 70 – 130 mm with the exemption of the Red Sea
coastal region and Gulf of Oman which enjoy over 500 mm
of rainfall yearly.
The scanty rain can be differenced with the great
evaporation rates.
World Bank (2004) guesses indicate that per capita
freshwater accessibility will turn down by one-half from
180 m3
to 94 m3
, from as early as 2030 based on the
forecasted inhabitants addition of 56 million (Table: 3).
16Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

17. This refuse has been witnessed from the prior reserves
of 680 m3
in 1970 to 180 m3
by 2000 which averaged 60
m3 to 370 m3 within the area. (See Table: 2 & 3).
The water problem has also being more
aggravated by the fast population growth,
specially high in the town areas where more than
80 percent of the populations are dweller. (See
Table: 2).
17Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

18. Country Area (km2) Average
Annual
Rainfall (mm)
Groundwater
Recharge
(MCM/Year
Non-Renewable
Reserve (MCM)
Bahrain 652 30 - 140 110 Negligible
Kuwait 17,818 30 - 140 160 N/A
Oman 212,460 80 - 400 900 10,200
Qatar 11,610 20 - 150 50 Negligible
Saudi Arabia 2,149,690 30 - 550 3,850 428,400
UAE 83,600 80 - 160 190
N/A
18Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

19. Country 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
Bahrain 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Kuwait 0.7 1.4 2.1 2.2 2.8 3.2 3.5
Oman 0.7 1.1 1.6 2.4 3 3.7 4.2
Qatar 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.8
Saudi
Arabia 5.7 9.4 15.8 20.7 27.4 35.5 42.5
UAE 0.2 1 1.8 3.2 3.5 3.9 4.2
Total 7.8 13.5 22.3 29.8 38.1 47.9 56.219Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

20. The Arabian Gulf is a low (average depth of 35m)
sheltered sea , key cause of new water is Tigris,
Euphrates, and Karun rivers.
The Arabian seas have high salinity due to soaring
evaporation charge at approximately annual rate of
2.0 m/yr (Meshal and Hassan, 1986). (See Table: 4).
20Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

21. Water TDS (mg/l
Gulf 4,500
Red Sea 41,000
Closed Seas: Mediterranean Sea 38,000
Open Seas (Oceans) 35,000
Baltic Sea 7,000
High Salinity Brackish Water 5,000-15,000
Low Salinity Brackish Water 1,000-5,000
Potable Water <1,000 21Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

22. Water habit is relative to its quality.
The human body can only take in a maximum of 1,000
ppm dependent on the kind of salt, the largely daily water
use and the weather conditions.
For trade purposes, a maximum limit of 5,000 ppm is
acceptable, while in farming irrigation, salty water with
salinity of 2,000 ppm can be used for some crops.
For rural, specific plants have differing tolerance of
salinity which is further relative to the particular soils,
weather conditions, seawater, irrigation technique used,
and artificial fertilizers.
22Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

23. demand for Bottled
water
Bottled water has become increasingly popular in
the world and the GCC countries have likewise
taken to the tendency particularly in the Emirates.
 The requirement for bottled water or still water
have risen many concerns over the impact to the
environment, quality, and health effects from
residues in the reusable water bottles. Reports
have surfaced indicating that much of the water
being retailed from the UAE plants is composed of
100 ppm of Bromate.
23Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

24. deSalination
technoloGieS/ methodS
 The GCC countries have approximately half of
the world’s 11,000 desalination plants and the
demand for the water rise at an average rate of
sixpercent.
Desalination is the procedure that is employed to
convert brackish and seawater harnessed from
underground waterbeds and mostly from the
oceans for human consumption, through
numerous techniques scientifically developed .
24Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

25. The desalination techniques used to produce treated
water within the GCC countries include Multi Effect
Distillers (MED), Reverse Osmosis (RO) and Multi Stage
Flash (MSF).
The main technology is thermal desalination employing
MSF which is deemed the most proficient in producing
high quality water (2–150 mg/l TDS) in vast capacities and
has a lesser hazard of bacterial or pathogenic
contamination (Dawoud, 2008).
25Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

26. Quantity of
DesalinateD seawater
ProDuceD from the
arabian Gulf
26Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

27. The distillation process is capable of recovering 50 percent
of product water from the seawater (Hajeeh and Al
Othman, 2005
The mainstream of the large scale desalination plants
found in the GCC countries utilizes thermal desalination
processes of which are associated with power generation.
 Over 80 percent of the total water production in the GCC
countries, is produced by thermal desalination processes
by 2002.
The relative simplicity, dependability and vast capacity,
The multistage Flash or multi-stage flash (MSF)
distillation process has been the most principal and
commonly employed process 27Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

28. The other common system is the Multi-effect Distillation
(MED) and the Thermal Vapor Compression (TVC) which
accounts for only six percent in desalination processes
(Hamed, 2004).
Bazza (2005) argues that the GCC countries poor
organizational strategies which are more concentrated on
the supply side are to be blamed for the poor state of
water resources in the region.
The keen drive in agricultural policies aimed at food self-
reliance wastefully argues that they have led to the over
consumption of the limited non-renewable fossil
groundwater aquifers when, as expected, the demands
exceeded the water supply.
The depletion of the groundwater will further acerbate the
water problems in the region (Bazza, 2005).
28Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

29. 1990 2005
Country
Desalinati
on
Production
(mcm)
Domestic
demand
(mcm)
Desalinati
on-to-
demand
ratio (%)
Desalinati
on
Production
(mcm)
Domestic
demand
(mcm)
Desalinati
on-to-
demand
ratio (%)
Bahrain 56 103 54 123 133 92
Kuwait 240 303 80 589 610 97
Oman 32 86 37 68 170 40
Qatar 83 85 98 250 252 99
Saudi
Arabia 795 1,700 47 1,063 2,458 43
UAE 342 540 63 813 951 85
Total 1,548 2,817 55 2,906 4,574 6429Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

30. Key water manaGement
challenGes/issues
One of the major issues confronting water management is
the rapid increase of urban water demand.
 This has been mainly fuelled by the equally high
population growth and rise in per capita water
consumption among the urban dwellers.
The over consumption problem has been credited to the
existing government subsidies and lack of water tariffs
hence encouraging wasteful usage.
Other emerging issues are the poor wastewater treatment
for recycling purposes in the heavily populated urban
areas.
30Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

31. 1990 2000
Country
Municipal
Water
Agricultural
Water
Municipal
Water
Agricultural
Water
Bahrain 46 54 49 51
Kuwait 79 21 78 22
Oman 7 93 14 86
Qatar 44 56 38 62
Saudi Arabia 10 90 12 88
UAE 36 64 38 62
Total 14 86 19 81 31Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

32. raPiD aQuifer DePletion
Due to the GCC countries heavy stress on food
continuation, most of the available water is diverted for
agricultural use.
This has led to over utilization of the non-renewable
groundwater in the aquifers.
This over misuse has led to pollution of the remaining
groundwater as saline seawater permeates the aquifers.
This irrational consumption of the limited reserves is contrasted
with the minimal production from agriculture at only two
to seven percent while consuming 0 to 90 percent of the
water in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the UAE (World Bank &
AGFUND, 2005).
32Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

33. conservation issues
Global Warming Threat
Referring to the WWF/Ecological Footprint
report Our Living Planet, that covered 150
countries worldwide, Raouf (2008) notes that the
UAE has the largest footprint in the
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) reports in 2007 on global warming
and recent events have proved that climatic
change is no longer a distant future event but
rather an occurrence that is distinctively
observable now.
33Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

34. Among other initiatives launched to halt the global
environmental threat including the UAE’s Abu Dhabi’s
Masdar, a carbon-neutral city where large scale policy
program will ensure no carbon emissions affluent are
allowed in the atmosphere in a CDM initiative..
Another CDM initiative was launched by the Qatari
government, the Al-Shaheen Oilfield Gas Recovery and
Utilization Project. Its main objective is to recover and
utilize natural gas that was previously will be flared while
a total of 11.8 tones are utilized hence 2.5 million t/CO2
emissions will be curtailed.
34Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

35. water manaGement
strateGies
Bakir (2001) advocates for water management approach as
a management tool whereby waste water management is
employed fittingly.
 Closed water loop concept that would ensure the
utilization of water at least twice.
The wastewater streams are treated and recycled within
the loop hence reducing wastage.
The concept required that the best quality water is
reserved specifically for cooking and hygienic functions.
Contaminated water from shallow aquifers for sewerage-
landscaping or toilet functions.
35Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

36. A new system developed by German-based environmental
research firm, IES Technology has promised a
revolutionary technique that would eliminate the endemic
problem of hazardous waste from extracted seawater
brine.
The process would be able to have ‘zero discharge’
capacity by increasing the salt concentrate even further or
up to crystallization, raw dry minerals like gypsum,
potassium, magnesium and table salt can be realized (IDS
Water, 2008).
36Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

37. Water Storage
Aquifer storage and recovery system (ASR) can decrease
expenditure by 50 percent to 90 percent, system entail the
utilization of injection wells in the submerged storage for
treated water in a appropriate aquifer when the supply
exceeds demand and similarly used to infuse desalinated
water in the aquifer .
37Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

38. typical aquifer Storage
and recovery operating
Schedule
38Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

39. effectS of Water
recycling
Experts argue that sophisticated systems like membrane
technology and RO plants have a larger impact if properly
harnessed.
Particularly , the prospect of reusing treated sewage water
from domestic and industrial use since it only constitutes
four percent in the water production.
Even cost-wise, using potable quality treated sewage for
non-potable purposes makes sense.
As the detrimental effect on the environment from
desalination processes, including brine residual,
devastation of coastal regions, enhanced carbon (C O2)
39Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

40. Other Sources of Energy
In operating the desalination plants, other sources of
energy must be explored apart from the predominant MSF
techniques and MED. The RO method is increasingly
being viewed as a viable alternative.
Private Sector Involvement
The water management and production process should
invite the participation of the private sector for better
efficiency..
40Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

41. Aquifer Management and Agricultural Strategy
Aquifer preservation presents a viable component for
potential water resources.
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
The water management strategies envisioned including a
more comprehensive water demand management policy;
sustainable aquifer management; wide-ranging non-
conventional water resource management.
41Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

42. Population (Millions)
Annual Renewable Water per Capita
(MCM/Year/Capita)
Renew
able
Ground
water
(MCM
/Year 1970 1980 1990 2000 1970 1980 1990 2000
110 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7 524 329 219 164
160 0.7 1.4 2.1 2.2 215 116 75 73
900 0.7 1.1 1.6 2.4 1,245 817 553 373
50 0.1 0.2 0.5 0.6 450 218 103 85
3,850 5.7 9.4 15.8 20.7 670 411 244 186
190 0.2 1.0 1.8 3.2 864 182 107 59
5,260 7.8 13.5 22.3 29.8 678 391 236 176 42Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

43. concluSion
The current and future water edicts within the GCC
countries are inadequate and hence need reforming.
The wavering energy prices which provide the main
wealth of the GCC countries is expected to be submerged
by the new renewable energy sources as more countries
discard the use of fossil fuels.
The GCC countries continued remitting of effluent brine
into the ocean also poses a great danger to the aquatic life
as well as the pollution of groundwater.
43Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

44. Improvement of a water stratagems and efficient schemes
that stress the importance of sustainable water resources
supervision;
 Prioritizing provision of water that are subjected to the
market rate, preservation, toxic waste control;
 the collaboration among water management sectors that
would avoid duplication and conflict of interest and need
to explore other sources of energy to power the
desalination plants while observing environmental
concerns.
44Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

45. referenceS
Abu Qdais, H. A. (1999). Environmental Impacts of
Desalination Plants on the Arabian Gulf.
Proceedings of the IDA World Congress on Desalination
and WaterReuse. San Diego, USA.
Al-Gobaisi, D. M. K. (1997a). Sustainable Augmentation of
Fresh Water Resources through
Appropriate Energy and Desalination Technologies.
Proceedings of the IDA World Congress on Desalination
and Water Reuse. Madrid, Spain.
Al-Gobaisi, D. M. K. (1999b). Water for Sustainable
Development of the Arab World.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. (2008). TRENDS...
food in the United Arab Emirates. Retrieved
October 24, 2009, from canada.gc.ca:
http://www.agr.gc.ca/index_e.php. 45Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA01/22/16

46. THANK YOU
Dr Yousuf H. Qureshi MD PhD MBA 4601/22/16