Technical and economic studies recently conducted by the Japanese government support the view of the Saudi Ministry of Water that the cost of transporting water to the Kingdom by tanker is twice that of producing fresh water by desalination.
The Saudi Minister of Water, Dr Ghazi Al-Gosaibi, said that the Planning Ministry had asked the Japanese government to conduct feasibility studies on the possibility of importing fresh water from abroad by empty petroleum tankers, but studies conducted by the Japanese government have proved that water desalination is cheaper than importing fresh water.
“In the light of these studies, the Water Ministry has ruled out the possibility of importing fresh water,” said Dr Al-Gosaibi. “However, previous proposals in this respect, called for the establishment of special reservoirs and water treatment stations, and connecting the latter by pipes, for the distribution of water within the Kingdom, but the studies have shown that such a development is inapplicable and will be accompanied by technical and health problems. Therefore, we have ruled out this option.”
Source: SPA
