By 2030, Morocco aspires to have established and developed stations for the treatment of 1.3 billion cubic meters of saltwater annually that will supply water for irrigation and consumption.
Following several years of drought and the potential for a persistent water shortage crisis brought on by climate change, the government is moving quickly to build saltwater filtration plants to meet its needs for water resources.
The upcoming project to build seawater desalination plants intends to reduce dependency on common water sources (surface and groundwater), as well as to prepare for the repercussions of any climate changes, Mohamed Serraj, an engineer at the National Office of Water and Electricity (ONEE) said, quoted by Hespress AR.
The same engineer explained on Thursday, at a conference on the theme “Water Policies in Morocco,” held by the Allal El Fassi Foundation, that Morocco has over 100 stations to purify bottled drinking water in various dams, with a capacity of more than 7.2 million cubic meters per day.
Serraj stated that the ONEE generated two billion and 35 million cubic meters of water in 2022, accounting for 90% of the total national output.
Surface water contributes to 67% of national drinkable water production, with groundwater resources accounting for 30%, and desalinated seawater accounting for barely 3%.
Potable water output has doubled in the last two decades, rising from approximately 670 million cubic meters in 2000 to 1.35 billion cubic meters in 2022. This development is driven by demographic and economic expansion, which increases the demand for drinking water.
Serraj emphasized the importance of rationalizing water consumption management by increasing canal productivity, whether in the field of drinking water or water intended for agriculture, pointing out that Morocco has 90,000 km of water canals, with a yield of 96% in terms of production and 76% in terms of distribution, with a 30% loss of water that passes through the network of canals.
Despite the 30% water loss, Serraj thought the canal network was doing well until learning that the water stress that Morocco is experiencing necessitates improving the network’s performance to reduce the volume of wasted water.
Morocco has been desalinating sea water since 1977 when the first desalination plant in the city of Boujdour was finished.
The Kingdom currently has 12 stations, 9 of which provide potable water with a capacity of around 85 million cubic meters per year, while three other stations produce water for agricultural irrigation and industry, particularly phosphates, while the Agadir station generates water for consumption, and agriculture.
Morocco’s total annual production of seawater desalination facilities is 177 million cubic meters.
Despite advances in saltwater desalination, Morocco still relies on traditional water resources for 97% of its water needs, despite the fact that these resources have been declining in recent years owing to climate change.
According to the data provided by Engineer Mohamed Al-Sarraj, the demand for potable water in Morocco will increase remarkably in the coming years, as it is expected to go from 1.7 billion cubic meters in 2025 to about 2.5 billion cubic meters in 2050.
He stressed that the equation for the increase in demand for water Potable versus the decline of traditional water resources requires resorting to unusual water resources, such as desalination of seawater, to ensure that the population is provided with potable water, considering that the matter is not only related to the provision of water, but rather a security aspect.
Serraj believes that despite the difficulties Morocco faces in maintaining its water security, there are positive aspects represented in the fact that the Kingdom has 3,500 km of beaches on the northern and western coastal front, in addition to the ongoing advancement of seawater desalination technology and the enormous potential in the field of energy, which makes Production cost very competitive.
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