SOUTH AFRICA – The water supply for the city of Cape Town is expected to reach critical levels by April 2018, when the taps may have to be turned off for an indeterminate period of time.^[1] The City of Cape Town has stated that it will bring three desalination plants online in the first quarter of this year.^[2] However, only one of these projects—the V&A Waterfront desalination project—is on schedule for completion by February.^[3] The two other plants, located at Monwabisi and Strandfontein, are currently behind schedule.^[4] 

The V&A Waterfront facility will produce 2,000 cubic meters of water per day when it opens, but given Cape Town’s current water consumption of over 600,000 cubic meters per day, the city’s water supply will remain at critical levels.^[5] South African researchers have raised concerns about the water that will become available, stating that the desalinated seawater may contain pollutants and pose serious risks to public health.^[6]            

Algal blooms off the coast of OMAN have compromised desalination facilities in the country. The Sultanate relies heavily on desalination to convert sea water for drinking and domestic purposes, with over 1.4 million cubic metres per day of installed capacity. Pre-treatment costs at the 80,000 cubic metre per day Sur desalination facility have increased by 30 to 40 percent. Harmful algal blooms are a serious seasonal problem in the region, typically lasting from August or September through to December or January, causing difficulties in the desalination of seawater and, on occasion, damage to RO membranes.^[7]

^{A worker in a Saudi desalination plant, south of Riyadh, May 4, 2011 Credit: Reuters}

The government of SAUDI ARABIA has announced plans to invest over $530 million to build nine desalination plants along its Red Sea coast. The plants will have a capacity of 240,000 cubic meters of water per day and are expected to be completed within 18 months. The country’s environment minister, Abdulrahman al-Fadhli, stated that the projects will help government-owned Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC) raise production efficiency and cut operating and capital costs.^[8]

The ABU DHABI energy company Masdar has announced the results of its Renewable Energy Desalination Pilot Programme in Ghantoot, which demonstrate the viability of solar-powered desalination in the emirate.^[9]  Masdar commissioned five pilot projects during the program to explore the feasibility of using renewable energy to power seawater desalination. The outcomes of the pilot projects revealed that solar energy-driven seawater desalination using reverse osmosis technologies can offer a commercially attractive, low-cost and sustainable long-term solution for seawater desalination in the Gulf region.^[10]