Assessment of large scale brackish water desalination plants in the Gaza Strip

Desalination practice presented by desalination plants' performance is an attractive area in which researchers investigate and contribute to both plant improvement and desalination research and development fields. Six large BWDPs and one SW desalination plant are operating in Gaza and providing 4% of the total water demand of the Gaza population. Most of the drinking water is produced through small private plants and RO housing units. The six BWDPs were investigated and assessed in terms of operational conditions and feed and permeate quality towards estimating the essential improvements required and their performance significance. The quality of plant feed was found to be noncompliant with WHO and Palestinian Standards Institute in most cases which is in contrast with the permeate of all plants. The assessment made through this study assists in the better understanding of the current situation of these plants in Gaza and recommending the essential improvements needed to increase their water production without increasing abstraction. In addition, the multi criteria analysis used to evaluate BWDP performance may assist in prioritizing the application of improvements. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.