North Africa has embarked on a building spree of plants that purify sea and wastewater as climate change intensifies droughts in the water-scarce region.
Across the Maghreb region, which takes in parts of the Sahara and is plagued by scorching summer heat, countries are banking on new desalination plants and facilities that can purify wastewater for farming.
The World Bank predicts that by 2030, the wider Middle East and North Africa region will fall below the absolute water scarcity threshold of 500 cubic metres per person per year. Scientists and environmentalists also warn of the impact on marine life as the plants dump the extracted salt back into the sea as concentrated sludge.Helali insisted this hasn't been a problem in Tunisia, where there had even been"a proliferation of aquatic life" around some discharge points, making those waters"highly prized by fishermen".
To narrow the gap, Tunisia is building three new desalination plants, including the one in Zerat. Such plants are meant to meet 30 percent of Tunisia's water needs by 2030.The kingdom operates 12 desalination plants and has seven more in the works. It already runs 23 desalination plants and has plans for 14 more, to meet 60 per cent of its water needs by 2030.
His ambitious Great Man-Made River project has linked that water with the densely populated northern coast through pipelines.
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