The potential role of brackish water desalination within the Egyptian water supply matrix

Fresh water supply to some remote desert areas in Egypt represents one of the major constraint to development of such areas. The current conventional water supply to remote communities includes pipelines and transportation means such as trucks. However, such methods seem to be very expensive, especially for very long distances (larger than 150 km). The presence of brackish water of moderate salinity (2000–6000 mg/l) in some of these areas can present an economic and reliable fresh water supply, if an appropriate desalination scheme is adopted. In this paper, the potential role of brackish water as a source of fresh water in Egypt is discussed. Key problems related to brackish water desalination experience in Egypt are outlined. Further, relevant brackish water technical and economic indicators are presented. A case study for brackish water desalination using reverse osmosis (RO) scheme is presented to elucidate its feasibility as compared to other water supply options. Further, planning guidelines for brackish water desalination are presented. The paper is concluded with the economic feasibility for large-scale RO desalination system for the presented case.