Dependent on Desalinisation, Bahrain Faces Water Conflicts
by Suad Hamada
– Bahrain –
Besides their devotion to God, our ancestors loved nature and cared for the environment, worshipping water as a symbol of their existence. Old Bahrainis worshiped Enki, the God of Freshwater for their sustainable water supply. As a sign of their devotion, they built three temples on the site of the Um Al Sojoor spring in a village called Barbar around 3000 BC.
But modern-day Bahrainis can no longer rely on Enki, and may have even forgotten Adhari’s myth – her tears dried up decades ago, along with other wells and springs, leaving Bahrainis largely dependent on desalinated water that is mixed with high-salinity groundwater. The demise of the Adhari spring is a sad reflection of Bahrain’s unchecked development – it is now little more than a swimming pool in the middle of an amusement park.
The Bahraini connection with nature started to fade away after the discovery of oil in 1932. The government dedicated its budget to massive infrastructure development that created job opportunities and initiated pioneer education projects, including sending outstanding students abroad. From the 1960s on, farmers and fishermen deserted their traditional jobs to join the oil industry. After independence from British rule in 1971, Bahrain emerged as one of the richest states in the region and even the world.
All of these changes disconnected Bahrainis from the reality of the country’s water supply. The shrinking groundwater reserves that became apparent in the 1980s went unnoticed by most people as they could simply turn on the tap. By 2007, actual renewable water resources per capital had plunged to 154.5 cubic meters, according to the World Resources Institute.
This alarming situation isn’t limited to Bahrain. In an interview published on the UNESCO website, President of the Arab Gulf Foundation for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND), Prince Talal bin Abdul Aziz, warns that water in the region is a matter of survival.
According to the Water Poverty Index, a country suffers from water shortage if its average per capita share of water is below 1000-2000 cubic meters per year. Using this measurement, 13 Arab countries face a critical situation, he explains.
The interview also highlights the Water Sector Assessment Report on the Gulf countries, which indicates an average annual per capita share of water in the Arab Gulf States between 60 and 370 cubic meters.
Even more worrying, according to the report, is that this figure is expected to be halved by 2030, when the region’s population is expected to reach to 56 million. Water can easily lead to political conflicts in the region, as seen in disputes between Jordan, Turkey and Israel as well as between Saudi Arabia and its neighbors.
Bahrain had its share of water-related conflicts, with years of border disputes that ended in 2001 with the intervention of the International Court of Justice (ICT). In that ruling, the ICT gave bigger parts of the disputed regional waters to Qatar in return for declaring Hawar Island (a reserve island scientists believe to have large oil resources) as part of Bahrain’s territories. The ICT’s verdict was immediately accepted by Bahrain’s government but came as a shock to Bahraini fishermen who found most of their fishing grounds granted to Qatar overnight.
To protect what remains of its natural water resources, Bahrain created a new Water Resources Council, which will bring the country’s supply management under one governing body. Last year it also unveiled a master plan to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into improving and protecting its water supply and sanitary sectors over the next few years.
According to Minister in Charge of Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) Fahmi Al Jowder, the country’s sanitation coverage has reached 88 percent, and is targeted to reach total coverage by 2015. The average per capita consumption of water in Bahrain is high, at 440 liters per day, he reports.
At present, Bahrain’s water supply chain is comprised of groundwater, desalinated water and treated sewage effluents. Water desalination is the country’s main source of potable supplies, with desalination plants producing 143 million gallons per day.
But environmental economist Dr Ali Al-Hesabi warns of the effects of seawater desalination plants on the marine environment. He says that marine life in the vicinity of a desalination plant can be affected by waste discharge, the method used to expel waste, and the process of feed water intake.
“All desalination plants use chlorine or other biocides – which are hazardous to marine resources – to clean pipes and other equipment and sometimes to pre-treat the feed water. The Environmental Authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain does not permit chlorine or other biocides to be discharged directly into the marine environment. Consequently, these chemicals would have to be neutralized before discharge,” he explains.
Dr Al-Hesabi says that the need for pretreatment chemicals and processes can also be eliminated or reduced substantially if feed water is taken in from beach wells or infiltration galleries, which serve as natural filters. He says that discharge from desalination plants may have higher salt concentrations and water temperatures, as well as lower oxygen levels, than those of receiving waters, all of which can lead to a serious imbalance in the marine environment.
In 1977, the government of Bahrain started treating sewage water to reduce water consumption. The project has been gradually developing, especially after the establishment of the Tubli Water Treatment Station. The project initially faced rejection with the formation of Parliament in 2002 when a majority of conservative lawmakers doubted the purity of the water. The government assured MPs that the water supply of the plant was strictly for domestic gardens and playgrounds. For lack of better options and knowing how badly Bahrain needed the plant, the MPs kept quiet for several years.
The plant became a public issue in 2006, when a health expert warned families about taking their children to gardens and playgrounds that are irrigated with the treated water.
The Director of Public Health, Samir Abdullah Khalfan, then declared that the Tubli Station needed urgent maintenance to produced healthy water, as current conditions could cause fatal hepatitis A infection and food poisoning. In reports he drafted for the Public Health Ministry, he also called upon the public to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables, warning that treated water from the Kingdom’s only sewage water treatment station wasn’t 100 percent clean.
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Khalfan’s announcements were denounced immediately by the three ministries concerned with the station which asserted that there was no scientific evidence linking treated water with hepatitis A. Their collective statement claims that hepatitis cases had actually declined in the last five years, especially among young children. After months of debate, the station was temporary closed to carryout further tests and was reopened later in the same year.
Unfortunately, the endless initiatives by researchers, experts and government officials may not be enough to prepare Bahrain for the looming water crisis. Individuals, the private sector and NGOs should join forces with the government in adopting initiatives that improve water resources, such as searching for more groundwater. Local scientific research organizations should coordinate with their international counterparts to find alternative solutions to the excessive desalination operations that Bahrain currently depends on so heavily.
If we don’t rekindle our ancient reverence for water, we might risk losing our tiny but great country. Ordinary individuals can and should make the difference, especially when we consider that a water-motivated war might result from continued inaction. We must change our careless attitude and appreciate nature by cutting our water consumption and leading more environment-friendly lifestyles.
About the Author
Suad Hamada has been a journalist in Bahrain since 1997. Her writing focuses on politics and women’s empowerment in both Bahrain and the larger Arab region. She has participated in national campaigns for the elimination of discrimination against Bahraini women, seeking to give them a voice in a society – that while liberal in comparison to its neighbors – still marginalizes and oppresses its female citizens.
This article helped me better understand the history of water in Bahrain, as well as the risk of future conflicts and health hazards due to an over-reliance on desalination in the region. I, too, live in a desert that has been over-run by development in the name of progress- a trend that has left our water tables dangerously low. In Arizona, people rarely think about the water that they use because it is so readily available. I hope that Bahrain will be more successful than my state in meeting its water crisis! Thanks for the article!