2024-07-14 10:00:28
The water situation in Tunisia remains critical due to drought, low dam storage rates and falling groundwater levels. In fact, desalination of seawater to supply drinking water has now become one of the solutions to the country’s water crisis. Faced with the severity of the situation, Tunisia has lost no time. For years, it has been implementing projects to continue to ensure the supply of drinking water for its population.
Desalination is a booming industry that has attracted investors from all four corners of the globe and is something Tunisia is counting on, especially as the dam reserves have been hit with the full force of the drought. The drought experienced is still affecting water reserves and agricultural production. Due to climate change, the country’s water resources have decreased. Therefore, we must resort to other unconventional sources such as desalination, wastewater reuse, etc.
In the context of a marked lack of rainfall in various regions of the country and of great stress on water resources, the President of the Republic recently inaugurated the Zarate-Gabès desalination plant: a project that will quench the thirst of 1.1 million citizens. Its daily production capacity is 50,000 cubic meters (m³). This is the first project in the desalination plan, with the Sfax station set to be operational by the end of July 2024, while the Sousse station is currently under construction.
The desalination project, which had been delayed since 2016, did not actually get off the ground until 2019. It came just in time. Providing solutions to drinking water disruptions in several parts of the country.
Likewise, the Head of State considered it essential to review policies and regretted the disappearance of some oases due to pollution and diseases caused by water quality. In addition, “the livestock and fodder crop sectors face water shortages, which is sometimes the reason for the increase in fodder prices,” he stressed.
Coping with water stress
“The three desalination stations in Zarate (Gabès), Sfax and Sousse will be operational in the coming days, at the end of June 2024 and at the end of this year respectively,” announced the Secretary of State for Water Resources, Ridha Gabouj. “These stations will strengthen the water supply system in Sfax and the coastal areas and relieve pressure on the waters of the north and Greater Tunisia.
Regarding the Sousse desalination plant, he pointed out that “the construction progress has reached 70%. It will be put into operation by the end of this year.
Tunisia currently operates several desalination stations, including the Djerba desalination station, to meet the growing demand for drinking water. Tenders for the construction of four more stations, in Tozeur, Kebili, Sidi Bouzid and Ben Gherdan, are regarding to be launched. Experts say desalination is expensive. The infrastructure required to convert seawater into drinking water is complex and requires large investments both for construction and long-term operation. In addition, desalination requires a lot of energy, which further increases costs.
“The cost of desalination plants in Tunisia varies depending on the specific project. The Japanese-funded Sfax desalination plant project cost regarding 36.7 billion yen, equivalent to regarding 780 million Tunisian dinars. On the other hand, the cost of desalinating one cubic meter of water in Zarate, Sfax, Sousse and Gabes is estimated at 3.5 dinars.
Around 2030, following the large-scale desalination projects under construction in Sousse, Sfax, Mahdia, Kerkennah and other places are completed, the country’s desalination capacity will reach 875,000 cubic meters.3/d, of which 80% comes from seawater. By 2030, the share of desalination in drinking water supply will increase to 35%, from the current 8.5%. The desalination plan is aimed at addressing water resource stress that has lasted for at least four years.
Faced with the problem of decreasing water resources, especially due to the effects of global warming, the future lies in desalination and solar energy. In the short and medium term, the water strategy that is beginning to take shape through the construction of new desalination stations must strengthen the water supply in several provinces, especially since no region will be immune from a large-scale water crisis.
Meeting growing water demands
To cope with the growing demand for this resource, strategies have included minimizing water stress caused by low rainfall, rationalizing consumption and ensuring water security.
The water access problems we are experiencing today are the result of a combination of factors: rather scarce precipitation, irrational agriculture that favours crops that consume large amounts of natural resources, and finally, an unregulated and uncontrolled approach.
In this context, the balance between supply and demand of conventional water in some regions has become increasingly difficult to maintain, and the utilization of unconventional water resources, especially seawater desalination, has become an inevitable priority.
This means that desalination is an increasingly viable solution to alleviate water scarcity and water stress. Although large-scale desalination is generally still the privilege of high-income countries, more and more countries are using it on a small scale, more or less intensively. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2040, the development of desalination in Middle Eastern and North African countries should be 13 times higher than in 2014 in order to meet the growing demand for water.
According to Hamza El Fil, head of the Desalination and Natural Water Valorization Laboratory at the Water Research and Technology Center (Borj-Cédria Technopole), the desalination capacity of Salonede water has exceeded 160,000 cubic meters.3/d, representing more than 55% of the national desalination potential. This potential is still relatively low, accounting for only regarding 1% of the desalination capacity in the Mediterranean basin and less than 0.25% of global capacity. The industrial sector’s share is close to a third of the total capacity, while water used for irrigation is less than 3%, compared to 7% globally. “This low rate is mainly due to the relatively expensive investment costs for farmers, on the one hand, and the difficulties in obtaining state subsidies for irrigation water desalination plants, due to the “lack of solutions to discharge the rejected brine. desalination stations, on the other hand”. Around 2030, the main desalination projects currently underway in Gabès and Sousse (50,000 m3/d Each can be expanded to 100,000) in Sfax (100,000 m3/D Scalable to 200,000) PPP project in Mahdia (100,000 m3/d, expandable to 200,000), Kerkennah (6,000 m3/j), etc., the desalination capacity of Sonede will reach 875 m3/d, 80% of which comes from seawater. The seawater desalination rate is currently regarding 8.5%, and it will increase to regarding 35% around 2030.
Considering that the industrial, tourism and agricultural sectors have a large number of desalination plants, for example, the chemical group’s desalination plant has a capacity of 50,000 m3/d, the national desalination potential will exceed 1.5 million cubic meters3/d until 2030.
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