KUWAIT: Kuwait is expected to face water shortage next summer, based on comparisons between the estimated average daily production and consumption rates, a local newspaper reported yesterday quoting government sources. Speaking to Al-Jarida on the condition of anonymity, the sources said the Ministry of Electricity and Water believed it would most likely not be able to enhance production levels sufficiently to meet the increasing demand in the next few months. “The crisis is predictable because of the delay in the ministry’s plans about increasing water production,” the sources said. They added that water desalination plants can produce a maximum of 500 million imperial gallons every day when functioning at full capacity, but this fell far short of the 550 million daily consumption rate predicted for the summer, especially during the month of May.
The ministry was barely able to keep up with consumption levels last year with a daily average of 460 million gallons produced and 454 million gallons consumed. “The ministry resorts to the state’s strategic reserves in case of shortage, but even that is not expected to help avoid shortage during next summer in the light of the MEW’s strategy which calls for taking not more than 40 million gallons a day,” the sources said. Faced with this dilemma, the sources believe that the only option the ministry can resort to in order to avoid a water crisis was a ‘rationing system’ as per which scheduled cuts could be applied if consumption continued to rise during the summer. The latter option was a likely scenario if malfunctions occurred in desalination plants that affected daily production, the sources added. Moreover, they predicted an increase in the price of water sold by tankers from an average of KD5 to KD10 per load to as much as KD30.
Read more: http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2013/03/23/water-crisis-predicted-next-summer/
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