Abstract
Desalination is the only means of reliable water supply in most of the Arabian Gulf States including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates. Huge desalination capacities are installed on the western margin of the Arabian Gulf contributing to increased salinity off the coast. This paper presents long term salinity observation made near outfall of Az Zour Power and Desalination Plant in South Kuwait. The salinity values peak at around 50 ppt at observation station located in open gulf around 5 km from the outfall of the power and desalination plant. The observation highlights the stress on the local marine environment continued incremental salinity can impair the marine biodiversity in the area. The study suggests that a stringent post construction and operational offshore water quality assessment can help in early detection of potentially complex environmental issues.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdul Jawad, M., & Al Tabtabaei, M. (1999). Impact of current power generation and water desalination on Kuwait marine environment. In Proceedings of IDA world congress on desalination and water reuse, San Diego (Vol. 3, pp. 231–240).
Al Barwani, H. H., & Purnama, A. (2008). Evaluating the effect of producing desalinated seawater on hypersaline Arabian Gulf. European Journal of Scientific Research, 22, 279–285.
Al Dousari, A. (2009). Desalination leading to salinity variations in Kuwait marine waters. American Journal of Environmental Sciences, 5, 451–454.
Al Ghadban, A. N., & Al Ajmi, D. (1993). Environmental impact assessment: Integrated methodology – a case study of Kuwait, Arabian Gulf. Coastal Management, 2, 271–298.
Al-Ghadban, A. N., Uddin, S., Beg, M. U., Al-Dousari, A. M., Gevao, B., & Al-Yamani, F. (2008). Ecological consequences of river manipulations and drainage of Mesopotamian marshes on the Arabian Gulf ecosystem: Investigations on changes in sedimentology and environmental quality, with special reference to Kuwait Bay. Final Report No. KISR 9362 (EM013C).
Al Yamani, F. Y., Bishop, J., Ramadhan, E., Al Husaini, M., & Al Ghadban, A. N. (2004). Oceanographic Atlas of Kuwait. Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, 203 p.
Darwish, M. A., Al Awadhi, F. M., & Darwish, A. M. (2008). Energy and water in Kuwait Part I. A sustainability view point. Desalination, 225, 341–355.
Hopner, T., & Lattemann, S. (2002). Chemical impacts from seawater desalination plants—a case study of northern Rea Sea. Desalination, 152, 133–140.
IDA (2006). IDA worldwide desalting plant inventory, no. 19 in MS excel format. Oxford, UK: Media Analytics Ltd.
Khordagui, H. (2002). Environmental impacts of power – desalination on gulf marine ecosystem. In A. Khan, et al. (Eds.), The gulf ecosystem: Health and sustainability (pp. 173–191). Leiden: Backhuys.
Lattemann, S., & Hopner, T. (2003). Seawater desalination: Impact of brine and chemical discharge on marine environment. Hopkinton: Balaban.
Lattemann, S., & Hopner, T. (2008). Environmental impact and impact assessment of seawater desalination. Desalination, 220, 1–15.
Mandil, A. M. (1991). Desalination and environment. In Proceedings of the third international symposium on industry and environment in developing world, Egypt.
Purnama, A., Al Barwani, H. H., & Smith, R. (2005). Calculating the environmental cost of seawater desalination in the Arabian marginal seas. Desalination, 185, 79–86.
Smith, R. (1977). Long-term dispersion of contaminants in small estuaries. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 82, 129–146.
Uddin, S., Al Dousari, A., & Al Ghadban, A. N. (2007). Sustainable fresh water resources management in Northern Kuwait—a remote sensing view from Raudatain basin. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 9, 21–31.
Uddin, S., Al Shamroukh, D., Al Khabbaz, A., & Al Yagoub, A. (2009). Assessment and monitoring of water quality for the Khairan Pearl City Project. Technical Report, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, No. 9512. 31 p.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Uddin, S., Al Ghadban, A.N. & Khabbaz, A. Localized hyper saline waters in Arabian Gulf from desalination activity—an example from South Kuwait. Environ Monit Assess 181, 587–594 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1853-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1853-1