HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol.

I Overview of the Desalination and

Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

OVERVIEW OF THE DESALINATION AND WATER

RESOURCES
Darwish Al-Gobaisi
International Centre for Water and Energy Systems, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Keywords : Asymmetric membrane, Composite membrane, Demister, Distillation,
Economic water scarcity, Electrodialysis, Industrial ecology, Multi-effect Desalination,
Multistage flash disalination, Non-condensables, Non-equilibration, Physical water
scarcity, Reverse osmosis, Solar still, Sustainable development, Vapor compression
Contents

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

1. Water and Life

2. Water on our Planet
3. Meeting the Challenges of Fresh Water Scarcity
4. Small Scale Desalination
5. Industrial Processes for Desalination
6. The Issue of Effluents from Desalination Systems
7. Energy and Water Critical Life Support Systems
8. Sustainable Development
9. Renewable Energy Base of the World- Solar Thermal Power and Solar Desalination
10. Industrial Ecology
11. Knowledge Resources for Capacity Building
12. Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)
13. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)
14. Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography and Suggestions for Further study
Biographical Sketch
Summary

This overview looks at the situation with regard to the earth's stock of fresh water, and
emphasizes the need to augment these supplies for human sustainable development.
Desalination for augmentation of water resources and water treatment and reclamation
for water reuse are considered as inevitable means to meet the fresh water demand in
many regions of the world. The development of desalination over the years is reviewed
and some of the large scale desalination plants are introduced. The study shows that the
cost of desalinated water is far less than what is usually estimated and asserts that such
estimates seem to have ignored the economy of scale. The link between energy and
water is studied with a view to ascertain viable solutions to the challenge of growing
demand. Water treatment methodologies are outlined for recycling, reclamation and
reuse of water with focus on the issues of health. With reference to sustainability, the
study looks at the vast potential of the suns radiation for use both for energy and water
systems. A perspective view of sustainable development is presented and discussed in
relation to sustainable energy driven desalination. The merits of different options for

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

harnessing renewable energy are presented. The concepts of industrial ecology are
discussed with reference to power/desalination plants. The chapter concludes with a
note alerting the power and desalination community against the prevalent business-asusual paradigm and calls for shift towards sustainability.
1. Water and Life

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

The Earth is a planet in the universe with unique features that support the existence of
life. Space probes and studies of samples from other celestial bodies may suggest some
traces of life there, possibly in different settings. But as far as the humans of the Earths
biosphere, are concerned, the only life format that is compatible with us is what we have
on our planet and we must consider life as it exists here for all practical purposes. This
form of life is what we simply refer to as life. The existence of life on this planet is
attributed mainly to the existence of water, that too in all its three states, solid ice, liquid
water and gaseous vapor. The liquid form in particular, which is commonly termed as
water is considered to be responsible for life on Earth, supporting its evolution from
its beginning and maintaining it throughout. Water is an essential component in all
forms of life as it transports energy in the form of nutrients to the various parts of a
living organism.
Living organisms have been able to adapt themselves to severe conditions on our planet.
Some plants can grow in saline soils and water. Some animals and plants survive in very
arid conditions. But, no organism can live without water. Communities of plants and
animals thrive near water. Human civilizations flourished close to rivers and fresh water
lakes. In some languages water is synonymous with life.
Water is an essential component of animal and plant life because of its unique physical,
chemical, and biological characteristics. Apart from its abundance, water is a very
strange substance. The unusual chemical characteristics of water, particularly the strong
hydrogen-bonding between atoms in the water molecule, give water some very
important properties. For example, it has very strong surface tension; its freezing point
and boiling point are very high for its molecular weight; its specific heat is very high,
and water expands on freezing so that ice is less dense than liquid water. The aquatic
life is safe in extremely cold climates in water under the insulating sheets of ice cover.
Water is a very good solvent, and one result of this is that natural water is never
completely pure. It dissolves a variety of substances during its precipitation and passage
over and through the ground. Such dissolved, as well as suspended, material profoundly
affects aquatic life and the usefulness of water to humanity. Its chemical constituents
include a range of dissolved inorganic and organic components, some of which are
picked up from the natural environment, others are man-made pollutants, and yet some
others are derived from water treatment systems and flow through conduits and pipes.
The biological components are also very varied and may include bacteria, viruses, algae
and protozoans, many of which are potential pathogenic organisms.
2. Water on our Planet
The growth of human civilization was strongly influenced by the proximity of reliable

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

resources of fresh water. Such places were localized, and generally beside major rivers.
Readily available fresh water constitutes only a tiny fraction of the total global stock of
water whose proportion is approximately depicted in Figure 1. The worlds potable
water reserve represents approximately less than 0.3% of the worlds total water
resources. As the figure shows, the vast part of that resource of non-saline water is not
accessible for human use. Most of it is locked up in ice sheets and glaciers. Most of the
remainder is groundwater, but the vast part of that is not where humans most need it,
and the rate of aquifer recharge is slow relative to withdrawal. We can regard the fresh
water available to humanity as that part which is in fresh water lakes and rivers and
streams spread over an area of about 105 000 km3.

Figure 1: The global stock of water (Adapted from Shiklomanov, 2009)

Fresh water resources are renewed by the hydrologic cycle that is powered by the sun.
In this cycle about 577106km3 of fresh water is annually set in circulation. A major
part of this amount is confined to the oceans where water rises as cloud by evaporation
and precipitates back as rain into the oceans. Only 20 per cent of global precipitation
falls over the land mass of the earth and more than half of that quantity evaporates back
into the atmosphere. In this process, about 47106km3 of water annually moves back
and forth between the land mass and the oceans of our planet, renewing the fresh water
resources of the earth. Over the land, this amount returns to the oceans by run-off,
mainly through rivers. Water resources management activity by humans is a
manipulation of this hydrologic cycle, which is shown in a simple form in Figure 2.

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Figure 2. Water balance in the global hydrological cycle (flows are in km3103 yr-1).
Flows are approximate estimates and are in cubic kilometers per year.

In nature, the concentration of dissolved salts in water is seldom greater than that of the
oceans, the composition of which varies from place to place and time to time depending
upon evaporation and input of fresh water from rivers, melting ice and precipitation. On
average, seawater contains 35 g of total dissolved solids (TDS) per kg or liter of water,
or 35 000 parts per million (ppm). Subterranean brackish waters generally have a much
lower salt content, usually around 2000-10 000 ppm TDS.
2.1. Renewal of Water Resources on the Earth

See Table 1 for Ocean Volumes (excluding adjacent seas). Note how much greater is
the Pacific than either the Indian or Atlantic Oceans. (Source
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/, University of California, San Diego). Figure 3 shows the
circulation of water in the Oceans and Figure 4 shows the variation of salinity of ocean
waters.
Ocean water and currents affect climate. Because it takes far more energy to change the
temperature of water than land or air, water warms up and cools off much more slowly
than land or air. As a result, inland climates are subject to more extreme temperature
ranges than coastal climates, which are insulated by nearby water. Over half the heat
that reaches the earth from the sun is absorbed by the ocean's surface layer, so surface
currents move lots of heat. Currents that originate near the equator are warm; currents
that flow from the poles are cold. (Smithsonian Ocean Planet).
Ocean

Volume 106 km3

Atlantic
Pacific
Indian

323.613
707.555
291.030

Table 1: Ocean Volumes (Source:

http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange1/10_5.shtml)

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

Figure 3: As water travels through the water cycle, some water will become part of The
Global Conveyer Belt and can take up to 1,000 years to complete this global circuit. It
represents in a simple way how ocean currents carry warm surface waters from the
equator toward the poles and moderate global climate (Source: NASA, 2010)

Figure 4: Sea Water Salinity Values of Different Regions (Source: NASA, 2010)
Table 2 describes the approximate residence times of water in the major reservoirs. On
average water is renewed in rivers once every 16 days. Water in the atmosphere is
completely replaced once every 8 days. Slower rates of replacement occur in large
lakes, glaciers, ocean bodies and groundwater. Replacement in these reservoirs can take
from hundreds to thousands of years. Some of these resources (especially groundwater)
are being used by humans at rates that far exceed their renewal times. This type of
resource use is making this type of water effectively nonrenewable (Michael Pidwirny,
2006).

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

Period of Renewal
2500 years
1400 years
9700 years
1600 years
10000 years
17 years
5 years
1 year
16 days
8 days
Several Hours

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Water of Hydrosphere
World Ocean
Ground Water
Polar ice
Mountain Glaciers
Ground ice of the Permafrost Zone
Lakes
Bogs
Soil Moisture
Channel Networks
Atmospheric Moisture
Biological Water

Table 2: Periods of Renewal of Water Resources on the Earth (Source: Michael

Pidwirny (2006). The Hydrologic Cycle, Fundamentals of Physical Geography, 2nd
Edition)

2.2. Arabian/Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea

A note on this region is important for two reasons. First, this region is arid and there are
many seawater desalination plants in this region. We will need to recall the features of
evaporation and salinity in this region to realize that the impact of discharges from
desalination plants is negligible relative to the natural effects, especially sea currents
and evaporation from the seas. The seas of the Arabian Peninsula primarily include the
Red Sea and Arabian Gulf, which are connected to the Arabian Sea through the Gulf of
Aden and the Gulf of Oman.

The Arabian/Persian Gulf (Temel Oguz, Jilan Su 2005) is about 1000 km in length and
has a mean depth of 35 m and a maximum depth less than 65 m. Estimates of renewal
time for the Gulf vary between 25 years. The trough reaches 100 m across the Strait of
Hormuz and deepens to more than 2000 m within 200 km of the Gulf of Oman. It opens
into the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only
60 km wide, separating the Musandam Peninsula of Arabia and the Qeshm Island of
Iran. The Red Sea extends almost 2,000 km in NNW-SSE direction over an axial rift,
with a maximum width of 354 km and a maximum depth of 2,850 m. The renewal time
of the Red Sea has been estimated at 30-45 years and other researcher about 20 years. A
shallow sill-depth of 130 m, about 140km north of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb,
effectively cuts the Red Sea off from the cold deep waters of the world ocean. The
Arabian/Persian Gulf covers an area (Al Barwani and Anton Purnama, 2008) of about
240000 km2. The three regions (Bashitialshaaer et al 2009), the Arabian Gulf (AG), the
Mediterranean Sea (MS) and the Red Sea (RS) have very high evaporation rates,
between 1.2 to 2 m annually, and very low annual precipitations, between 90 to 150
mm. Due to its semi-enclosed nature and arid climate (AG), (MS) and (RS) waters are
naturally characterized by a higher salt content due to the accelerated high rate of
evaporation. In the Arabian Gulf, the increase of the seawater salinity in the sea is
caused by evaporation in winter which is much higher than by desalination processes.
The volumes of AG, RS and MS is indicated in the Table 3. There are freshwater

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

inflows from the Tigris, the Euphrates and the Karun at the delta of the Shatt al Arab,
estimated in which fresh water and river inflow equals to 48 km3/yr. The Mediterranean
Sea has a mean width of about 800 km, a mean depth of about 1500 m, an extreme
length of about 3,860 km, an average length of approximately 2700 km and an
evaporation rate of approximately 1.3 m/yr (Bashitialshaaer et al 2009).
Region
Arabian Gulf Mediterranean Sea
1000
240
35
240000
8400

2700
800
1500
2960000
4350000

Red Sea
2000
225
500
450000
225000

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Categories
Parameters
Average Length (distance)
(x103m)
Width of the Sea (x 103m)
Sea Average Depth (m)
Area (x106m2)
Volume (x 109m3)

Table 3: Typical related parameters for the Arabian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea and the
Red Sea. (Source: Bashitialshaaer et al 2009)

TO ACCESS ALL THE 91 PAGES OF THIS CHAPTER,

Visit: http://www.desware.net/DESWARE-SampleAllChapter.aspx

Bibliography and Suggestions for Further study

Ahmad, E., and S. A. Sultan (1991), Annual mean surface heat fluxes in the Arabian Gulf and the net heat
transport through the Strait of Hormuz, Atmos. Ocean. 29(1), 45-61
Al Barwani and Anton Purnama (2008), Evaluating the Effect of Producing Desalinated Seawater on
Hypersaline Arabian Gulf, European Journal of Scientific Research.

Al-Hallaj S., M. M. Farid and A. R. Tamimi, (1998), Solar desalination with a humidificationdehumidification cycle: performance of the unit. Desalination, 120,273-280
Al-HallajaSaid, Sandeep Parekha, M.M. Faridb, J.R Selmana (2006), Solar desalination with
humidificationdehumidification cycle-Review of economics, Desalination 195,169186
Al-Kharabsheh, S., Yogi Goswami, D.,(2003), "Analysis of an innovative water desalination system
using low-grade solar heat", Desalination 156 , 323-332.
Al-Sahali Mohammad , Hisham Ettouney, (2007)Developments in thermal desalination processes:
Design, energy, and costing aspects, Desalination 214, 227240

Annual Statistical Report (2007), Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries(OAPEC) .

Arab Countries Regional Report (2009 ), the Arab Water Council and Regional Coordinator of the
MENA/Arab Countries
Arab Water Council (2009), Arab Countries Regional
Awerbuch Leon (2009), Future Directions in Integration of Desalination, Energy and the Environment, A

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

seminar sponsored by American Nuclear Society - Student Chapter and Department of Nuclear Science
and Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Awerbuch, L. (2004), The status of desalination in todays world. In S. Nicklin (editor) Desalination
and Water Re-Use. Tudor Rose, United Kingdom.
Bashitialshaaer Raed A.I., Persson, Kenneth M. , Larson, Magnus (2009), Estimated Future Production of
Desalinated Seawater in the MENA Countries and Consequences for the Recipients, IDA World
Congress A Dubai, UAE
Belessiotis, V., Voropoulos, K., and Delyannis, E.(1995), Experimental and Theoretical Method for the
Determination of the Daily Output of a Solar Still, Input-Output Method," Desalination; Vol. 100, 99104.
Bidokhti, A. and Ezam, M. (2008), The structure of the Persian Gulf outflow subjected to density
variations, Ocean Sci. Discuss., 5, 135161

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Bogner, J., M. Abdelrafie Ahmed, C. Diaz, A. Faaij, Q. Gao, S. Hashimoto, K. Mareckova, R. Pipatti, T.
Zhang, Waste Management, In Climate Change 2007: Mitigation. Contribution of Working Group III to
the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [B. Metz, O.R.
Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R. Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United
Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.

Borsani, R, Rebagliati, R (2005), Fundamentals and costing of MSF desalination plants and comparison
with other technologies, Desalination, 182,2937
Borsani, R. and Ghiazza, E., (2001), MSF desalination units over 15 MIGD is becoming a reality and start
a new age for the old technology, Proc. of IDA, World Congress, Bahrain.
BorsaniRoberto , Silvio Rebagliati, (2005), Fundamentals and costing of MSF desalination plants and
comparison with other technologies, Desalination,182, 2937
Bower, A. S., Hunt, H. D., and Price, J. F.(2000). Character and dynamics of the Red Sea and Persian
Gulf outflows, J. Geophys. Res., 105(C3), 63876414

Chanan A., Simmons B. (2002), Dams to Demand Management: A Journey Through Development of
Urban Water Supply, Proceedings River Symposium 2002, Brisbane, September 2002. [A paper
describing the paradigm shift in water management]
Cooley Heather , Peter H. Gleick, and Gary Wolff, (2006), Desalination with a grain of salt, A California
Perspective
Darwish M.A, Al-Najema.N.M, Liorb.N, (2009), Towards sustainable seawater desalting in the Gulf area,
Desalination 235, 5887
Delyannis E, Belessiotis V., (2000), The history of renewable energies for water desalination.
Desalination 128,14759
Delyannis E. E. and Delyannis A., (1985), Economics of Solar Stills. Desalination 52, 167-176.

DHI. (2008), Linking Water, Energy and Climate Change. A Proposed Water and Energy Policy Initiative
for the UN Climate Change Conference, COP15, in Copenhagen 2009, Draft Concept Note, Danish
Hydrological Institute, Horsholm, Denmark
Drioli Enrico, Francesca Macedonio (2008), Membrane Engineering in Desalination and Wastewater
Reuse PPT,
Drioli, E. and M. Romano (2001), Progress and new perspectives on integrated membrane operations for
sustainable industrial growth, Indus. Eng. Chem. Res., 40, 12771300.

Eibling, J A YT albert, S.G., and Lot G.O.G., (1971), "Solar Stills for Community Use - Digest of
Technology," Solar Energy; Vol. 13, p. 263-276.
Einav, R., K. Harussi, D. Perry. (2002), The Footprint of the Desalination Processes on the Environment.
Desalination 152: 141154.
El-Nashar, Ali M. (2009), HISTORY AND CURRENT STATUS OF MEMBRANE DESALINATION

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

PROCESSES, Desware
ESCWA (2009),WATER DEVELOPMENT REPORT 3, ROLE OF DESALINATION IN ADDRESSING
WATER SCARCITY
Ettouney Hisham (2005), Design and analysis of humidification dehumidification, desalination process,
Desalination 183, 341352
Foster, R., Eby, S. & Amos, W., (2005), Ten years of solar distillation application along the U.S.-Mexico
border. (http://solar.nmsu.edu/publications/1437ISESpaper05.pdf)
Garcia-Rodriguez Lourdes , Ana I. Palmero-Marrero, Carlos Gbmez-Camacho (2002),Comparison of
solar thermal technologies for applications in seawater desalination, Desalination 142, 135-142
Garcia-Rodriguez Lourdes and Agustn M. Delgado-Torresa (2007), Solar-powered Rankine cycles for
fresh water production, Desalination 212,319327

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Grabow, W. O. K. , (2009), WATER AND HEALTH, in Water and Health, [Ed. Willie O.K. Grabow], in
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss
Publishers, Oxford,UK, [http://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/ViewEbookList.aspx?catid=3]
H.T. El-Dessouky ,et al (2000) Multistage flash desalination combined with thermal
compression, Chemical Engineering and Processing, vol. 39 , 343-356.

vapor

H.T. El-Dessouky, H.M. Ettouney and Y. Al-Roumi,(1999) Multi-stage flash desalination: present and
future outlook, Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 73 ,, pp. 175-193
Hamed Osman A. (2005), Overview Of Hybrid Desalination Systems - Current Status And Future
Prospects, Desalination 186,207214

Howard Gruenspecht (2010),EIA, International Energy Outlook

IAEA-TECDOC-1524, (2007), Status of Nuclear Desalination in IAEA Member States

IAEA-TECDOC-1642, (2010), Environmental Impact Assessment of Nuclear Desalination

IUCN/UNEP/WWF (1980): The World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for
Sustainable Development. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Gland, Switzerland
Kalogirou Soteris A., (2004), Solar thermal collectors and applications, Progress in Energy and
Combustion Science 30, 231295
Kamei Tasuku , Yasumoto Magara, (2006), ARSENIC GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION, in
Environmental and Health Aspects of Water Treatment and Supply, [Ed. Yashumoto Magara], in
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss
Publishers, Oxford, UK, [http://www.eolss.net] [Retrieved April 2, 2010]
Keiichiro Fuwa. "The Meaning of Sustainability: Biogeophysical Aspects." in Defining and Measuring
Sustainability: The Biogeophysical Foundations. M. Munasinghe and W. Shearer, ed. Washington D.C.
Distributed for the United Nations University by the World Bank. 1995. Biophysical sustainability means
maintaining or improving the integrity of the life support system of Earth.
Kennedy, J.F.(1961), Speeches of Senator John F. Kennedy,Presidential Campaign of 1960. Washington,
D.C.:U.S.Government Printing Office
Khawajia* Akili D., Kutubkhanaha, Ibrahim K. , Wieb , Jong-Mihn (2008), Advances in seawater
desalination technologies, Desalination 221, 4769
Lattemann Sabine, Thomas Hpner (2008), Environmental impact and impact assessment of seawater
desalination, Desalination, Vol. 220,1-15,

Levine Audrey D., Harold L. Leverenz, Takashi Asano (2010),Water Reclamation and Reuse, in Water
and Health, [Ed. Willie O.K. Grabow], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed
under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK, [http://www.eolss.net] [Retrieved
May 1, 2010]
Macedonio, F. and Drioli.E.(2008), Pressure-driven membrane operations and membrane distillation

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

technology integration for water purification, Desalination, 223, 396-409

Malik MAS, Tiwari GN, Kumar A, Sodha MS.(1985) Solar distillation. New York: Pergamon Press
Mandal, Badal Kumar and Kazuo T. Suzuk (2002), Arsenic round the world: a review, Talanta, 58 201
235
Mathioulakis*, E., V. Belessiotis, E. Delyannis (2007), Desalination by using alternative energy: Review
and state-of-the-art, Desalination 203, 346365
Mathioulakis, E., Belessiotis, V., (2003) Integration of solar still in a multi-source,multi-use
environment", Solar Energy 75, 403-411.
Mattheus F. A. Goosena, Shyam S. Sablania, Hilal Al-Hinaib,Charles Patonc, and Walid H. Shayyad,
(2001), Humidification-Dehumidification Desalination: Seawater Greenhouse Development, IDA World
Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse, October Manama, Bahrain
Maung Htun Ooa, and Lianfa Song (2009), Effect of pH and ionic strength on boron removal by RO
membranes, desalination, 246,605-612

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Miller James (2003), Review of Water Resources and Desalination Technologies, Materials Chemistry
Department, Sandia National Laboratories
NASA (2010), Surface meteorology and Solar Energy (http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/)

Office of Saline Water (1965), Conceptual Design of a 50MGD Desalination Plant. OSW United States
Department of the Interior (three reports)
Oldfield John.W (2003), Survey of material usage in MSF plants over the past 25 years, Proc. of
International Conference on Desalination, Bahamas, (2003), Survey of material usage in MSF plants over
the past 25years, Proc. of International Conference on Desalination, Bahamas
Olli Repo, UNEP-DTIE-IETC (2008),Sustainable Development: Water and Energy -Water provision with
alternative energy: Solar stills, Training Course on Sustainable Management of the Iraqi Marshlands,
Damascus, Syria,
Ophir A., Gendel A.(2005), Advanced MED process for most economical sea water desalination,
Desalination 182, 187-198
Ophir. A., Lokiec.F, (2005), Advanced MED process for most economical sea water. Desalination, 182
181192
Paton Charlie , Philip Davies (2006), THE SEAWATER GREENHOUSECOOLING, FRESH WATER
AND FRESH PRODUCE FROM SEAWATER, The 2nd International Conference on Water Resources
in Arid Environments King Saud University Riyadh

Peterson Erik and Rachel Poster (2008), Global Water Futures, A Roadmap for the future U.S. Policy,
Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Pidwirny Michael (2006), The Hydrologic Cycle". Fundamentals of Physical Geography

Planet Kerala. (May 2005), Locally fabricated solar distillation still for drinking water. News on Concept
in Community Practice. (http://www.solutionexchange- un.net.in/environment/cr/res20100501.pdf)
Planet Kerala. (October 2006), Solar Desalination.

Qiblawey Hazim Mohameed , Fawzi Banat (2008), Solar thermal desalination technologies, Desalination
220, 633644
Rashad Danoun (2007), Desalination Plants, Potential impacts of brine discharge on marine life, The
Ocean Technology Group, University of Sydney, Australia
Ridgway Harry F. (2008), Advanced Membrane Technologies, Stanford University
Sharqawy, M. H., J. H. Lienhard V, and S. M. Zubair (2010), The Thermophysical Properties of
Seawater: A Review of Existing Correlations and Data." Desalination and Water Treatment.
Shih Ming-Cheng (2005), An overview of arsenic removal by pressure-driven membrane processes,
Desalination,172 8597

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

Shiklomanov, I.A. (2009), World Water balance, in Hydrological Cycle, [Ed. Igor Alekseevich
Shiklomanov], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the
UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford,UK, [http://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/ViewEbookList.aspx?catid=7]
Slow ( 1992), An almost practical step towards sustainability. Washington DC: Resources for the Future .
Sodha MS, Mathur SS, Malik MAS,(1984) Reviews of renewable energy resources, vol. 2. New York,
Wiley
Soteris, Kalogirou A. (2005), Seawater desalination using renewable energy sources, Desalination
31,242-281
Spiegler K. S. (1980) Principles of Desalination (Part A and Part B) 2nd edn. New York: Academic
Press.
Spiegler K. S. and El-Sayed Y. M. (1994), A Desalination Primer. International Science Services, via
Antica Arischia, 1 67100 L'Aquila, Italy.

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Stanwell-Smith, R. (2009), CLASSIFICATION OF WATER-RELATED DISEASE, in Water and

Health, volume one, [Ed. W.O.K.Grabow], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS),
Developed under the Auspices of the UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK,
[http://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/ViewEbookList.aspx?catid=3]
Stewart Robert H. (2008) Introduction to Physical Oceanography Texas A & M University,

Sung Jae Kim, Sung Hee Ko, Kwan Hyoung Kang, Jongyoon Han (2010), Direct seawater desalination
by ion concentration polarization, Nature Nanotechnology
Susan Murcott (2006), - Status of Implementation, Critical Factors and Challenges to Scale up of
Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage Technologies ,Multiple Barrier Approach:A Watershedbased, Systems Approach to Water Safety,(WHO, GDWQ, 2004)
Sydneys desalination project. (2005), Summary of the environmental assessment for public comment.
Sydney Water.
Temel Oguz, Jilan Su (2005), Chapter 4, SEMI-ENCLOSED SEAS, ISLANDS ANDAUSTRALIA PANREGIONAL OVERVIEW, The Sea, Volume 14A, The Global Coastal Ocean, Interdisciplinary Regional
Studies and Syntheses
The United Nations World Water Development Report (2009), Water in a Changing World

Tonners, J. (2008), Barriers to Thermal Desalination in the United States, Desalination and Water
Purification Research and Development Program Report No. 144,U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau
of Reclamation, http://ausra.com/news/releases/071105.html.
Trieb Franz (2007), Concentrating Solar Power for Seawater Desalination (AQUA-CSP) project, final
report, http://www.dlr.de/tt/aqua-csp
Trieb Franz , Hans Mller-Steinhagena, Jrgen Kernb, Jrgen Scharfec,Malek Kabaritid, Ammar Al
Taherd, (2009), Technologies for large scale seawater desalination using concentrated solar radiation,
Desalination 235, 3343
Trieb Franz and H. Mller-Steinhagen (2008), Concentrating solar power for seawater desalination in the
Middle East and North Africa, Desalination, 220,165183.
Trieb, F. et al. (2005) Concentrating Solar Power for the Mediterranean Region.German Aerospace
Center (DLR), Study for the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safety, .
Available at www.dlr.de/tt/medcsp

UNEP/ROWA (2008), Desalination Resource and Guidance Manual for Environmental Impact
Assessments
UNESCO-WWAP (2009), WATER IN A CHANGING WORLD, The United Nations World Water
Development Report 3.
Vigneswaran S., M. Sundaravadivel, (2009), WASTEWATER RECYCLE, REUSE, AND
RECLAMATION, in Wastewater Recycle, Reuse, and Reclamation, [Ed. Saravanamuthu (Vigi)

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)

HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF WATER RESOURCES Vol. I Overview of the Desalination and
Water Resources - Darwish Al-Gobaisi

Vigneswaran], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the Auspices of the
UNESCO, Eolss Publishers, Oxford, UK, [http://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/ViewEbookList.aspx?catid=7]
Vigneswaran, S., C. Davis, J. Kandasamy, A. Chanan, (2009), URBAN WASTEWATER TREATMENT:
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE, in Water and Wastewater Treatment Technologies, [Ed.
Saravanamuthu (Vigi) Vigneswaran], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed
under
the
Auspices
of
the
UNESCO,
Eolss
Publishers,
Oxford,UK,
[http://www.eolss.net/ebooklib/ViewEbookList.aspx?catid=7]
Vigon, B. W. (1993), Life Cycle Assessment: Inventory Guidelines and Principles, p. 41. Cincinatti: US
Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Reduction Engineering Laboratory.
Vigotti Roberto (REWP) and Allan Hoffman (US DOE), (2009), Water Scarcity and Water Security:
Political and Social Implications Workshop on Renewable Energy and Water, IEA Working Party on
Renewable Energy Technologies.

U
SA NE
M SC
PL O
E
C EO
H
AP LS
TE S
R
S

Wang, Young-Doa (2009), Integrated Policy and Planning for Water and Energy, UNIVERSITIES
COUNCIL ON WATER RESOURCES, JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY WATER RESEARCH &
EDUCATION.
World Health Organization (WHO) (2009), Boron in Drinking-water, Guidelines for Drinking-water
Quality, WHO/HSE/WSH/09.01/2
Zong-Liang Yang (2010),Smithsonian Ocean Planet,
http://www.geo.utexas.edu/courses/302c/role_of_oceans.htm
Biographical Sketch

AL GOBAISI, DARWISH M.K., was born on the 21st December 1953 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He
received his higher technical education in Electrical Engineering from the United Kingdom where he
received his B.Sc. (Engineering) and Ph.D. degrees. For over two decades since 1976 he was with the
Water and Electricity Department (WED), Government of Abu Dhabi, in various positions including
Director General, Power & Desalination (P&D) Plants, directing all aspects of activity including
planning, development, operation and maintenance of P&D plants. He was responsible for the continuing
development of the P&D facilities over the years, the capacity of which at present has reached 3000 MW
and 200MGD respectively. He is actively engaged in research and development in an attempt to bridge
the gap between theory and practice, particularly in the aspect of plant modeling, simulation,
optimization, control, fault diagnosis and care.

He has authored/coauthored over 40 papers in the fields of power and desalination, water resources and
environment. Presently he is leading a large team of internationally renowned experts, in a monumental
project -The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), as its Editor-in-Chief and Co-chairman of
the UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee. This Encyclopedia is the largest online source of state-of-the-art
knowledge in the world that was inaugurated at the World summit on Sustainable Development,
Johannesburg, South Africa in September 2002. Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources
(DESWARE) appeared in November 2000 and augmented and updated annually as another unique online
publication in the field of desalination and water resources. All these have been published by Eolss
Publishers, Oxford, UK. He has chaired technical sessions in several conferences both at home and
abroad, and was the Technical Program Chairman of the IDA World Conference on Desalination and
Water Sciences, Abu Dhabi, 18-24 November 1995.
Dr. Al Gobaisi is a Chartered Engineer in the U.K.; Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (U.K.);
Fellow of the Inst. of Measurement and Control (UK); Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society (UK);
Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Member, Operations Research
Society of America; Member, Institute of Forecasters; Member Instrument Society of America; and
Member, International Desalination Association, where served also on its Board of Directors. He has been
elected to the Royal Belgian Academy of Overseas Sciences as Corresponding Member and to the World
Academy of Arts and Sciences (WAAS) as Fellow.

Encyclopedia of Desalination and Water Resources (DESWARE)