Desalination and Brine Discharge Case Study for PEAW in Oman

Desalination is an important method for producing drinking water and it has been a freshwater supply alternative for a long time. The water resources in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, are mostly depending on desalination as a major source of (>80 %) drinking water, while the rest comes from groundwater. The largest number of desalination project is located in the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman) which today counts for more than 45 % of the world production, of this amount about 3 % total Omani production. The International Desalination Association (IDA), Award Program (2014–2015) was designed to facilitate the advancement of global expertise in desalination and water reuse through the exchange of talents, knowledge and skills. This was awarded for the author at Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW), as the host agency in Oman for six weeks. PAEW performs studies and explores and evaluates multiple techniques for providing fresh water and power production to various consumers; residential, industrial and commercial. Oman has several desalination plants, both small (smallest about 100 m3/d) and large size (largest about 200,000 m3/d) which are controlled by the PAEW. In the program lecturing, discussions and field visits were conducted to assist the host agency PAEW in Oman.