Prioritizing desalination strategies using multi-criteria decision analysis

Desalination of seawater and brackish water is gaining interest as a viable source of water in several arid countries where conventional water resources are very limited or under stress due to the increasing demands and deteriorating water quality. In Egypt, quite a few large desalination plants exist with capacity over 10,000 m3/day. Most desalination plants are constructed on a small scale to satisfy domestic requirements for small cities and resorts in remote areas. National plans for future desalination facilities should consider different priorities of desalination options considering key factors such as the targeted use of desalinated water, feed water quality, desalination technology, energy source, plants' locations, and their capacities. The objective of this paper is to make a comparison among all the possible desalination alternatives for Egypt, considering key factors involved and using Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was utilized along with MCDA to present results of the different desalination alternatives and optional plans at a national scale. The results of this study will direct decision makers concerning the prioritized investments of different desalination options and plans.