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The growing demand for water, one of the most crucial issues facing the region in the years to come.

 
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15 Feb 2007

While the Middle East represents 5% of the global population, the region has only about 1% of the world's renewable fresh water - this, linked with the fact that the region has one of the world's highest demands for power generation and clean water as the result of rapid population growth rates and economic diversification, means that the provision of adequate water supply is one of the key issues facing governments across the region today.

The growing demand for water, one of the most crucial issues facing the region in the years to come.

In line with its commitment to the regional energy industry and position as one of the world's most respected and influential events for the global energy industry, Middle East Electricity 2007 featured, for the first time, a dedicated and totally comprehensive showcase of companies operating in the desalination and waste water industries. Among the many products being displayed by the leading companies from the regional and international water industry were desalination systems and equipment, pumps, waste water recycling systems, water filtration and purification equipment plus water treatment systems.

Current statistics underpin the size of the market, with The Gulf Cooperation Council estimating that US$100 billion of investment is necessary over the next 10 years, with a focus on private investment – the UAE and Oman have been the leading countries in developing the private sector in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Own-Operate (BOO) projects.

The average annual growth in demand for desalinated water in the Arab world is 6% per annum compared to the global average of 3%, with 40% of the total demand in the Middle East coming from the industrial and municipal sectors. At present, c. 70% (approximately 24 million cu. metres per day) of the UAE's water comes from desalination plants, and Dubai alone has an installed desalination capacity of 188 MIGD (million gallons per day) with a total production of 58.8 MIGD - consumption increased from 49 MIGD in 2003 to 54 MIGD in 2004 and has continued on a steep upward curve.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer of desalinated water with 30% of the total global production, has scarce fresh water resources. The Kingdom's 30 desalination plants pump almost 600 million gallons per day, meeting 70% of the drinking water needs, and to meet demand it is estimated that US$53 billion is required to increase its desalination capacity to 10.7million cubic metres per day by 2020.



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