Our first post-Eid issue is a busy one. Inside, you can read our interview with the new President of the International Desalination Association (IDA), Dr Corrado Sommariva, who also wears the hat of Managing Director, ILF Consulting Engineers Middle East. When I met him in Abu Dhabi, Dr Sommariva pointed out that it was his first ever media interview in the region after assuming office at the recently concluded IDA World Congress on Desalination and Water Reuse, held in Perth.
When we got down to discussing the opportunities in the region’s desalination sector, in the context of the gloomy predictions about the future of the global economy, Dr Sommariva pointed out there exists tremendous potential to reduce energy consumption in the region’s aging desalination plants, with benefits down the line. He believes that plants coming to the end of their lives can be re-vitalised with “clever solutions,” citing the example of the 35-year old MSF plant of Jeddah 2, which was replaced by a RO plant with substantial reduction in specific energy consumption. The new President’s top priorities include energyefficient desalination and promoting social responsibility in desalination. He also thinks the water industry here could finally be on its way to becoming a dynamic and vibrant part of the regional economy.
Our cover story is an in-depth report on a joint Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) and Black & Veatch workshop on the three types of pressures the water sector is facing today: policy pressures, innovation pressures and public pressures. Key words you should keep an eye out for include Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Subsidies, Pricing, Value, Policy Frameworks and Communication.
In my three years of talking to water specialists in the region, I heard the term ‘Value Engineering’ spoken only once – when I interviewed Elie Shalhoub, General Manager of EMCO Engineering for this issue. Shalhoub is a passionate advocate of the Value Engineering philosophy, which he feels will only gain more ground in these tough times, and I agree wholeheartedly. Don’t miss out the lucid overview of the advantages of pump optimisation.
End note: In an interview published in a local newspaper, a spokesperson from the UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water shared plenty of data on water production and consumption trends in the country. I will leave you with two – 12% of UAE’s total water consumption is met by Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE); the cost of one cubic metre of desalinated water is Dh7.16.
By Anoop K Menon, Editor, H20
