Good Saudi Arabia’s Tap Water Essay Example

The country of Saudi Arabia is a desert country . Therefore, it does not contain any river or lakes. A very little rainfall is the only water they get in the year. Consequently, the water shortage is the problem faced by the country, and this resource seems to be significant for them. On the other hand, the elevation in the population of the country demands more water resources and hence, the need for water is simultaneously increasing.
Correspondingly, the country has developed the ideas and ways in order to provide the sufficient water to the people. Saudi Arabia contains the ministry which deals with the water affairs. This ministry was formulated in the year of 2003. The matters which are dealt by this ministry include the foreign investment, wastewater management, desalination of the water, and private sector involvement.
The major sources of the water in Saudi Arabia are the aquifers. These aquifers are the reservoirs present underground and expanded over the vast land (Hussein, 2012). In the year of 1970, the government of the Saudi Arabia developed the plans and strives for acquiring the locations through the maps where the aquifers can be possibly present. Moreover, the efforts were introduced in order to determine the capacity of these aquifers thus, enabling the country to get benefit from the water reservoir.
Subsequently, in the urban and agricultural areas, some ten thousands of the place were drilled which were predicted to be containing the water reservoir. Therefore, ten thousands of the tube wells were generated through the effort which was commenced since 1970s (Water Resource, 2015).
Besides the wells, the major source of water for the Saudi Arabia is the sea. The water from the sea is made usable by conducting the desalination of the sea water. Saudi Arabia happens to have the world’s greatest resource of saline water.
The corporation in Saudi Arabia is devised which deals with the desalination of sea water. This corporation is the saline water conversion corporation (SWCC). The 27 of the desalination stations are run and controlled by this corporation. Eventually, above three million cubic meters volume of water gets desalinated through these desalination stations and converted to the portable water. The water which gets portable through these plants is distributed throughout the country, and it serves almost 70% of the water usage in the country of Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the desalination plants also grant the processed water to the industries. Furthermore, the water from the desalination plants is also used up by the electric plants in order to generate the power.
The dams are constructed in the Saudi Arabia which holds the water gained through the flash floods and rains. Approximately, 16 billion cubic feet volume of water is stored in the dams which are in number of 200 present in the country (Al-Zahrani, 2009). The largest dams located in the Saudi Arabia are present in the regions such as wadi Bisha, wadi Fatima, wadi Jizan, and Najran. This water which is stored in the dams is consumed for the purpose of irrigation and agriculture mainly.
In 2006, 5.72 million m3 of the water which was portable was provided on the daily basis. The quantity equal to 1.84 million m3 was taken from this daily water supply and undergoes the treatment of wastewater. Ultimately, 0.34 million m3 of water is used to be reused on the daily basis. From the year of 2005 to 2010, the 15 billion of Saudi Arabia riyal were spent on the problems pertaining to the scarcity of water and issues related to the sewage systems in the Jeddah. This amount of money was utilized for the development of water treatment plants in northern Jeddah and Shoiba. An amount of money was also spent on the production of sewerage networks in the north and south regions of the Jeddah (Global Water Intelligence, 2012).
Water scarcity is also planned to be reduced through the desalinization of sea water. A plan was set up which was required to be completed in 1995 to 1999. According to this plan, all the drinking water was intended to be obtained from the plants that carry out the desalinization of sea water.
On the contrary, the emergence of number of problems hampered the completion of the plan. Consequently, the plan was revised to be executed in 1999. Subsequently, 24 plants are present in Saudi Arabia, which is responsible for the desalinization of the sea water. Moreover, 17 more plants for the conduction of this process are intended to be constructed.
Keeping the scarcity of water in Saudi Arabia, the country plans to recycle the water. Approximately 40 percent of the used water is intended to be recycled from the urban areas where the water is used for the domestic purposes (Economic and Social Development Department). Consequently, the recycling plants are constructed in the Jeddah, Riyadh and some other main urban regions of the country of Saudi Arabia.
The water from the tube wells is not safe for drinking. This water is served to the tap of the domestic house. Therefore, the water used for the drinking from the tap is not safe. The study shows that the analysis of the water from 40 tube wells indicated the presence of high level of fluorides, coliform bacteria, and chlorine (Al-Turki, 2007).
The evidence for the unsafe tap water is studied by various researchers. The fact is that the tap water is not safe for drinking. The tap water from various regions of the Riyadh was analyzed, and they showed the contamination in the tap water. However, the fungal growth was not observed. On the other hand, the concentration of aluminum and chlorine is injurious to health which is present in the tap water of the Saudi Arabia (Abed & Suaad, 2007).
The bottled water of the Saudi Arabia and the US, when compared, provides the points of differentiation. The concentration of fluorides and bromates deviated from the standard level of concentrations which is present in US bottled water. On the contrary, the concentrations of the soluble cations, nitrate, anions, salts present in the bottled Saudi water matched the bottled water of the US. Consequently, the water of bottles available in the Saudi Arabia is safe to drink (Al-Omran et al, 2013).
In conclusion, the tap water in the Saudi Arabia is acquired mainly from the desalination of the sea water which is present in the red sea. The water is used for domestic purposes since, it is portable water. However, the water coming from the tap is not safe for drinking because of the presence of contamination. Moreover, the chlorine content is higher in the tap water in order to eradicate the contamination. Consequently, the water becomes hazardous to health. These problems are under consideration by the government of Saudi Arabia and the ministry which deals the supply of water.

Work Cited

Abed, Kawther F., and Suaad S. Alwakeel. "Mineral and microbial contents of bottled and tap water in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia." Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 2.3-4 (2007): 151-156. Retrieved from http://idosi.org/mejsr/mejsr2%283-4%29/15.pdf on 7th April 2012.
Al-Omran, Abdulrasoul M., et al. "Quality assessment of various bottled waters marketed in Saudi Arabia." Environmental monitoring and assessment 185.8 (2013): 6397-6406. Retrieved from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/233901330_Quality_assessment_of_various_bottled_waters_marketed_in_Saudi_Arabia on 7th April 2012.
Al-Turki, Ahmad I. "EVALUATION OF WELL WATER QUALITY IN HAEL REGION OF CENTRAL OF SAUDI ARABIA." Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research 2 (3-4): 151-156 (2007). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCsQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fprofile%2FSuaad_Alwakeel%2Fpublication%2F238691725_Mineral_and_Microbial_Contents_of_Bottled_and_Tap_Water_in_Riyadh_Saudi_Arabia%2Flinks%2F544837fd0cf2f14fb8142181.pdf&ei=TLUnVZ3bO8iQsgHblIHwCw&usg=AFQjCNG_GJ9ZdlrCGTp06l2c3byl7O2IKA&sig2=6W2VrPTTCwonoy67BGEZwA&bvm=bv.90491159,d.bGg&cad=rja on 7th April 2012.
Al-Zahrani, Khodran H. "Sustainable development of agriculture and water resources in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Conference of the International Journal of Arts and Sciences. Vol. 1. No. 17. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.ewi.info/sites/default/files/audio-files/P29.pdf on 10th April 2015.
Economic and Social Development Department. I. Water resource issues and agriculture. FAO corporate documentary repository. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/t0800e/t0800e0a.htm on 10th April 2015.
Global Water Intelligence. Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2011-2012. Pinsent Masons LLB (2012). Retrieved from http://www.globalwaterintel.com/pinsent-masons-yearbook/2011-2012/part-ii/51/ on 7th April 2012.
Hussein, Mohammed Tahir, Mazin M. Al Yousif, and Hussein S. Awad. "Potentiality of Secondary Aquifers in Saudi Arabia: Evaluation of Groundwater Quality in Jubaila Limestone." International Journal of Geosciences 3.01 (2012): 71. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CEgQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scirp.org%2Fjournal%2FPaperDownload.aspx%3FpaperID%3D17591&ei=DscnVdmcKsKcsAGY5YKICw&usg=AFQjCNHGAHQtb7WlWrkl5mPRzTWNyngcNw&sig2=SSuMcklQEdg7yuL97pu_4Q&bvm=bv.90491159,d.bGg&cad=rja on 7th April 2012.
Water Resource. Water in Saudi Arabia. Information Office of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, DC (2015). Retrieved from http://www.saudiembassy.net/about/country-information/agriculture_water/Water_Resources.aspx on 10th April 2015.