Calculating the environmental cost of seawater desalination in the Arabian marginal seas Original Research Article

Seawater desalination in the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea is the reliable source of water supply to the population of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. If desalination plants were to operate along the coasts of these arid climate semi-enclosed Arabian marginal seas, then the additional loss of water and returned brine waste due to the plantʹs water production would increase the salinity. A mathematical model is presented to calculate the impact of desalination plants on the salinity within a semi-enclosed sea of simple geometry. Due to the exponential sensitivity to the plantʹs location and its water production capacity, the effect of seawater desalination at the northern Arabian Gulf or Red Sea is found to be more severe.