~) Pergamon Renewable Energy, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 537-542, 1998 © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain PII: S0960-1481(98)00028-7 0960-1481/98 $19.00+0.00 TECHNICAL NOTE Potentials for development of hydro-powered water desalination in Jordan BILAL A. AKASH* and MOUSA S. MOHSEN Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Applied Science University, Amman, 11931, Jordan (Received 20 September 1997; accepted 16 February 1998) Abstract Due to the increase in population and development in agriculture, Jordan will deplete all of its renewable sources of fresh water in the next few years. On the other hand, the level of the Dead Sea has been falling at a high rate for the past three decades, due to the diversion of water from the Jordan River for irrigation. The solution to these issues could be in finding other alternatives such as the development of hydro-powered water desalination plan. Desalted water would be produced in order to make up for the shortage of fresh water using membrane technology, and thus reserve fresh ground water for future generations. The brine from this process is discharged into the Dead Sea to allow restoring the sea level. This paper finds, on an annual basis, that about 2133 million cubic meters (MCM) of water can be drawn from the Red Sea. The power generated due to difference in elevation is used to desalinate Red Sea water. About 533 MCM of fresh water is produced in such a process. The brine, which is about 1600 MCM, is discharged into the Dead Sea. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. INTRODUCTION By the beginning of the next century Jordan, among other countries of the region, will have depleted all of their renewable sources of fresh water if current patterns of consumption remain unaltered [1- 6]. However, due to the growth in population and development in agriculture, additional sources of fresh water will be needed. The solution would have to be in finding other alternatives such as considering desalination and reuse and treatment of waste waters [7]. Jordan consumes about 1000 million cubic meters (MCM) of water annually [8]. Its current population is about 4.3 million, and by the year 2010 it is expected to increase beyond 7 million, assuming an annual increase of about 3.5%. By then, water demand for municipal and industrial uses could reach 500 and 100 MCM, respectively. The projected water resources may reach a maximum value of 1200-1300 MCM, which includes restored water rights from the Jordan River [9]. Considering these figures and assuming that agricultural demand for water remains unaltered, the expected annual needs of water would be about 1350 MCM. Clearly, by then, the country will be facing a serious water problem. Jordan is a non-oil producing country, and energy issues, like water become critical matters. The need for desalination from non-conventionalenergy sources becomes very attractive, which includes nuclear, solar, wind energy, and hydro-power [10]. However, these types of technologies are not fully * To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Tel. : 00 962-6523 7181; fax: 00 962 6523 2899. 537