Dubai is located in one of the world’s driest regions. The increasing population of the city is increasing the demand for drinking water, thus encouraging the development of new water production technologies.
By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water scarcity, and technology can be used in many ways, from regulating the climate to providing drinking water and extracting water from the air. Dubai, as one of the driest places in the world, is promoting the development of new water production technologies.
Cloud seeding technology is one of the most unique technologies being developed. Cloud seeding is a weather manipulation technique that increases a cloud’s ability to produce rain. Before sending the aircraft for cloud seeding, meteorologists must select the correct cloud to be seeded. This process only works in the mountains, due to the upward air currents.
Pilots place their aircraft under the cloud and launch rockets loaded with higrosopic (water-loving) salt particles. Sodium chloride and potassium chloride particles rise towards the cloud body, attracting tiny water droplets into the cloud. These droplets merge and grow into larger raindrops which fall to the ground.
This method is a valuable water source in areas with low annual rainfall and requires minimal energy consumption. An hour of cloud seeding can provide 100,000 cubic meters of water. More than 50 countries around the world cloud seed not only increase rainfall, but also to reduce the size of hailstones in colder regions. By preventing hail, storm damage can greatly be reduced.
In dry regions with few lakes or rivers, residents rely on seawater for drinking. Dubai’s drinking water comes from over 90% seawater. Large desalination plants can produce large quantities of drinking water through the reverse osmosis process.
According to Vanesa Fernandez Membrillera, from O&M ACCIONA, desalination is very popular in the Gulf region: “Saltwater represents 98% of the world’s water resources, and we face a shortage of fresh drinking water. The main advantage of this process is that it overcomes this problem.”
Facilities such as the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant are designed according to “Dubai Integrated Water Management Strategy,” which aims to reduce water consumption by up to 30% by 2030.
Hydroelectric panels use solar energy to produce drinking water from moisture in the air. Water parks that use this technology can produce water from existing infrastructure without the need for an energy source.
Sofia Berglund from Source Global explains how hydroelectric panels can be useful in polluted areas: “Pure H2O is the only thing in water from the beginning before mineralization. Nothing can enter it; there are no pollutants.”
Dr. Said El Hassan, the founder of Manhattan, suggests that in some parts of Europe, more solar energy can be generated compared to desert climates due to rainfall, sand and dust particles that clear the air.
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the demand for water. Innovations such as these in water production are crucial in finding new ways to stay hydrated.
