At the beginning of December, a sandstorm rises on the green gardens of The Pearl, an archipelago of artificial islands, in Doha. The gusts make the watering jets waltz: “Why are we all wet when it’s not raining?” asks a very young French supporter to his mother.
In Qatar, water is everywhere during this World Cup: in addition to the gigantic fountains that flow freely, each stadium consumes 10,000 liters of desalinated water daily for watering the lawns, while the country begins to cruelly to lack. On average, 500 liters of water are used per day and per inhabitant. Without lakes or rivers, the Emirate must draw its running water from groundwater, which is emptying at full speed… Out of a capacity of 2.5 billion cubic meters, 100 million disappear each year. Enough to deplete all of the country’s water resources by 2050 and ultimately make it uninhabitable.
To avoid this scenario, Qatar is betting everything on desalination. Like its neighbors in the Gulf, the emirate has adopted this technique which consists of separating salt from water thanks to huge factories by the sea. “Countries like Qatar or the United Arab Emirates have made it the stone cornerstone of their water management policies”, emphasizes Mihail Barboiu, research director at the CNRS and specialist in desalination.
Security but also an ecological aberration
In Umm Salal, at the end of a road that connects Doha to the desert, Qatar is building its future: behind an imposing wrought iron gate, five large desalinated water conservation tanks will be operational from 2026. Connected to two factories capable of to desalinate more than 400,000 cubic meters per day, these reservoirs will double the storage capacity of the emirate. Security, but also an ecological aberration: according to a study by Ifri, to desalinate 1,000 cubic meters of water per day, you have to consume 10,000 tonnes of oil per year. To improve its environmental impact and its image, Doha has set itself the goal of producing 80% of its water reserves using solar energy by 2030.
Problem, the extracted salt is mainly rejected in the sea. “What can reinforce the salinity of water and poses a great risk on the ecosystems”, indicates Mihail Barboiu. In Qatar, one ecological challenge often hides another…