Category Archives: Water Management

Membrane Innovation: Transforming Water Security in Arid Regions

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Membrane innovation has emerged today as one of the most decisive technological levers for arid countries facing water scarcity, degradation of natural resources, and the rapidly increasing water demand for drinking, agricultural, and industrial water. At the heart of this silent revolution, membranes, whether reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, forward osmosis, or emerging processes such as biomembranes and graphene-based membranes, have transformed the way dry nations produce, recycle, and secure their water supply. Far from being a simple technical tool, they have become a major geopolitical, economic, and environmental instrument. In the context of accelerated climate change, where extreme droughts are … Continue reading →

Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Arab Countries

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Addressing water scarcity, both natural and human-induced, in the Arab region is considered one of the major and most critical challenges facing the Arab countries. This challenge is expected to grow with time due to many pressing driving forces, including population growth, food demand, unsettled and politicized shared water resources, climate change, and many others, forcing more countries into more expensive water sources, such as desalination, to augment their limited freshwater supplies. The heavy financial, economic, environmental, as well as social costs and burden to be borne cannot be overemphasized. Furthermore, the water scarcity challenge in the Arab world is being … Continue reading →

Sahara Nature-Based Solutions: Algeria’s Ancestral Water Systems for Climate Resilience and Sustainability

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Nature‑based solutions (NBS) have emerged as a critical strategy for sustainable water resource management, especially in arid and semi‑arid regions where water scarcity is amplified by increasingly erratic rainfall, more frequent extreme weather events, and progressive ecosystem degradation. Algeria, which spans from the Mediterranean littoral to the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert, is endowed with a rich heritage of traditional hydraulic techniques adapted over centuries to the region’s harsh climate [1]. Long before modern hydraulic infrastructures, these techniques leveraged a deep understanding of local hydrology and integrated human settlements within the natural cycles, enabling a remarkable resilience to climatic … Continue reading →

Why Algeria Should Become the Regional Hub for Predictive Drought and Water Modeling

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North Africa is entering a new climate era defined by chronic drought, accelerating warming, and unprecedented pressure on water systems that were never designed for this level of stress. Over the last decade, the region has experienced a succession of dry years, but recent analyses from the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory show that since late 2023 the drought signal in northern Africa has been both multi-annual and structurally deeper than past cycles, with pronounced precipitation deficits, rising evapotranspiration, and abnormal land-surface temperatures. These dynamics have led to measurable impacts on groundwater recharge, agricultural productivity, and reservoir inflows, creating a complex … Continue reading →

الارادة والتعليم سر الانجازات الاقتصادية

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إقتصادياً؛ ينظر الكثير إلى مياه البحر من زاوية التكاليف الباهضة لمشاريع تحليتها، هذه النظرة تجعل من مياه البحر عقدة بدلاً من كونها حلا لبعض الحاجات الإقتصادية والمشاريع التنموية. قبل أيام أطلقت أستراليا مشروعاً زراعياً يعد الأول من نوعه على مستوى العالم، إذ يستغني عن التربة والمياه الجوفية والوقود الأحفوري، ويكتفى بأشعة الشمس ومياه البحر لإنتاج 17 ألف طن من الطماطم سنوياً. وفي ظل الأزمة التي تواجه العالم في الحصول على المياه العذبة وإنتاج الطاقة فإن المشروع يشكل الوجه الجديد للزراعة المستقبلية حسب تعبير مجلة New Scientist التي ذكرت أن المشروع استغرق ست سنوات فقط، وهي مدة قياسية بالمقارنة بمشاريعنا، بل حتى … Continue reading →

Seawater Reinvented: Inside the Race to Build Cleaner and Smarter Desalination

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Desalination has stopped being an engineering footnote and quietly become one of the most consequential climate-era industries. Once synonymous with enormous power plants, thick plumes of hypersaline waste and prohibitive costs, modern desalination is remaking itself along three intertwined axes: slashing energy needs, turning brine from a waste into a resource, and folding data-driven intelligence into plants and networks. The result is a trajectory that could make seawater an affordable, environmentally acceptable pillar of water security for coastal and island nations ; provided the industry solves the brine and emissions puzzles fast enough. Recent projects and a surge of academic work … Continue reading →

Advancing Circular Economy in Water Management in Algeria: From Wastewater to Strategic Resource

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As climate change accelerates water scarcity across the Mediterranean and the Sahara, countries are compelled to rethink their approach to water management. The traditional linear model of extracting freshwater, using it once, and discharging it into the environment is no longer viable in regions where rainfall is decreasing, aquifers are overexploited, and agricultural demand continues to grow [1-2]. In Algeria, this challenge is especially acute – declining annual precipitation, high evapo-transpiration rates, rapid population growth, and urban expansion place tremendous pressure on limited freshwater resources. At the same time, industrial and agricultural demands continue to rise, further stressing conventional water … Continue reading →

Managing Sudden Water Shortage Expenses in MENA Communities: Lessons From International Households

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Countries across the Middle East and North Africa live with some of the lowest freshwater availability per person. Several MENA countries receive less than 500 m³ of freshwater for one person each year. Reports from the FAO and UN Water show that climate patterns, higher temperatures, and population growth continue to put greater pressure on water systems. When supply suddenly stops, even for a short time, families face unexpected expenses. They should pay more for repairs, bottled water, filtration, or temporary storage. Usually, people should deal with immediate costs for filters, delivered water, pump repairs, or small tanks. Below are … Continue reading →

إستخراج مياه الصرف الصحي: تغيير النظم في المدن شحيحة المياه

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في المناطق ذات النمو السكاني المتسارع، فإن الاستدامة تعتبر مُلّحة ومُهمة لإن هذه المناطق تكون أكثر عرضة لندرة المياه. يُعرّض مناخ الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا الحار والجاف هذه المدن للخطر. وبالرغم من ذلك، تنتج مدن هذه المنطقة – التي تعاني من ندرة المياه – كميات هائلة من مياه الصرف الصحي التي يمكن معالجتها لتلبية احتياجاتها المائية. ما المقصود باستخراج (تعدين) المجاري؟ استخراج مياه الصرف الصحي (المجاري) هو عملية تجميع هذه المياه ومعالجتها لإزالة جميع الملوثات وفصل المواد الكيميائية لإعادة استخدامها. وبالعادة فإنه يتم الحصول عليها ومعالجتها محلياً. بهذا ممكن أن يقل الطلب على مياه الشرب عن طريق توفير مصدر محلي … Continue reading →

Sewer Mining: A Game-Changer for Water-Scarce Cities in MENA

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Sustainability is important everywhere, and it is especially urgent in places with rapidly growing populations that are more prone to lower water scarcity.  The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s hot and dry climate puts cities at risk. However, MENA’s water-scarce cities produce a ton of wastewater that can potentially be treated to accommodate their water needs. What is Sewer Mining? Sewer mining is when wastewater is harvested and treated to remove contaminants and separate certain chemicals so that it can be reused. It is typically sourced and treated locally. It can reduce the demand for potable water by … Continue reading →

تأثير المعادن الثقيلة على البيئة في العراق والعالم العربي

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يتمتع العراق برقعة مائية شاسعة تبلغ 4.4 مليون دونم, تشتمل بيئات مختلفة تتمثـل بنهري دجلة والفرات وروافدهما وشط العرب والخزانات والبحيرات و الأهوار (المنظمة العالمية للتنمية والزراعة, 1986), إذ تشكل مياه الأهوار والأنهار 70% من المساحة الكلية للمسطحات المائية في القطر وتعد مصدراً مهماً للثروة السمكية. إن أهوار جنوب العراق عبارة عن نظام مائي فريد من نوعه إذ تعد أهوار وادي الرافدين من أكبر المسطحات المائية في الشرق الأوسط وتشغل مساحات واسعة من جنـوبي العراق, ويعتمد بقاء أهوار العراق على النظام المائي لنهري دجلة والفرات إذ تقـع الأهوار في الجـزء الجنوبـي من العراق بين محافظـات البصرة وميسان وذي قار ، … Continue reading →

الأثر البيئي والمناخي لاستغلال ثروات أهوار العراق

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حيث ما تغمر المياه الأرض يعـــــــم الخير ولقد وصف المستكشفون الأوائل أهوار العراق بأنها جنة فــي العراق في مناظرها المائية والطبيعية ومناخهـــــــا المعـتدل وأنواع الطيور الفريدة التي يزيد عددها علـى مئات الأنواع وبيوتها السومريـــــــة ويعود تاريخ هذه المستنقعات المائية الى  خمسة الاف سنة حيث نشأة عليهــــــــــا الحضارة السومرية. إما سكان هذه المناطق فينقسمون الى نوعين: 1.  سكان المدن والقصبات والقرى والارياف التي تقع على اطراف الاهوار وهــي مناطق مأهولة ولها نشاطها الاقتصادي والثقافي 2.  سكان الاهوار الذين يسكنون في جزر وسط الاهوار التي تكونت بسبب الترسبات والطمي او جزر صغيرة يعملها سكان السكان لأنفسهم مـــــــــــن القصب والبردي ويبنـون بيوتهم عليها … Continue reading →