Desalination and the Middle East: research, practices, implications, and prospects

Growing reliance on desalinated water, a vital resource for sustaining life, has greatly accelerated the worldwide endeavor to develop safe and sustainable desalination methods. The Middle East, well-known for its substantial oil reserves and hot weather, constitutes 46.9% (60.1 million m3/day) of contracted and 41.8% (28.96 million m3/day) of the current total operational desalination capacity worldwide (i.e., 128 million m3/day and 69.3 million m3/day, respectively). As a result, the region accounts for 50.68% (52.83 million m3/day) of the world’s brine production (104.2 million m3/day). This immense dependence of the Middle East on desalinated water has made desalination research imperative in academia and the region’s industries, hence making remarkable advancements in the field. This study encapsulates the six decades of desalination progression in the Middle East, sharing specifics of the facilities with “online/presumed-online” status. It shares desalination chronicles, capacity/user distribution, cumulative capital/operational expenditures trend, brine production/management practices, policies related to desalination/water security in the region, and plans. Also, it provides a comprehensive overview of the research and development (R&D) activities pertaining to desalination, highlights the top institutions/organizations actively engaged in research, classifies the investigated areas, and shares details of the funds supporting research and development in the region for advancing desalination.