Conference to look at desalination options.

Byline: Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter

Dubai: Pollute as they may, desalination plants simply cannot stop producing fresh drinking water in water-scarce countries such as the UAE. Best practises for desalination plants will be put under the microscope at an upcoming congress organised by the International Desalination Association later this year.

The conference on Desalination and Water Reuse will feature three specialised workshops for industry professionals it has been announced, looking at three different aspects of desalination and desalination technologies.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a report on the negative impact of desalination plants in 2007 called "Making Water: Desalination option or distraction for a thirsty world". The report stated that it is estimated that around 60 per cent of freshwater needs in the Arabian Gulf are met through desalination.

Among the negative impact of the energy-demanding process cited in the report include: brine build-up, increased greenhouse gas emissions, destruction of coastal areas and reduced emphasis on conservation of rivers and wetlands.

It also states that many of the areas of most intensive desalination activity have a history of damaging natural water resources, particularly groundwater.

According to the WWF's global freshwater programme director, Jamie Pittock, desalination is new engineering and the negative impacts will only emerge when it is too late or too expensive to fix.

"What we need most is a new attitude to water not unchecked expansion of water engineering," he said.

The global event on desalination and water reuse, the IDA World Congress hosted by TechnoPark and supported by Economic Zones World (EZW) will take place in Dubai, at the Atlantis The Palm, from November 7 to 12. It is expected to gather 1,800 industry professionals.

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