The growing demand for water, one of the most crucial issues facing the region, a focus area at Middle East Electricity 2007

In line with its commitment to the regional energy industry and position as one of the world's most respected and influential events for the global energy industry, Middle East Electricity 2007 will feature, for the first time, a dedicated and totally comprehensive showcase of companies operating in the desalination and waste water industries. Among the many products being displayed by the leading companies from the regional and international water industry will be desalination systems and equipment, pumps, waste water recycling systems, water filtration and purification equipment plus water treatment systems.

"Owing to the rapid increase in demand for water in the Arabian Gulf countries where conventional water resources such as fresh surface water and renewable groundwater are extremely limited, other alternatives such as wastewater reclamation and desalination have been adopted since the 1960s," said Sarah Woodbridge, Group Director Exhibitions, IIR Middle East - organisers of the event. "The scale of the demand is clearly illustrated by the fact that he UAE consumes more water per capita than any other country in the world with the exception of the United States and Canada."

The level of interest in water related products and services is extremely high - over 11,000 visitors to Middle East Electricity in 2006 were specifically looking for companies involved in water and water related industries. "Water at Middle East Electricity has been designed to form the ideal platform for companies in the water, desalination and waste water industries to exhibit their products, services, solutions and project references to the region's key decision makers," added Woodbridge.

Current statistics underpin the size of the market, with The Gulf Cooperation Council estimating that US$100 billion of investment is necessary over the next 10 years, with a focus on private investment - the UAE and Oman have been the leading countries in developing the private sector in Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Build-Own-Operate (BOO) projects.

The average annual growth in demand for desalinated water in the Arab world is 6% per annum compared to the global average of 3%, with 40% of the total demand in the Middle East coming from the industrial and municipal sectors. At present, c. 70% (approximately 24 million cu. metres per day) of the UAE's water comes from desalination plants, and Dubai alone has an installed desalination capacity of 188 MIGD (million gallons per day) with a total production of 58.8 MIGD - consumption increased from 49 MIGD in 2003 to 54 MIGD in 2004 and has continued on a steep upward curve.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest producer of desalinated water with 30% of the total global production, has scarce fresh water resources. The Kingdom's 30 desalination plants pump almost 600 million gallons per day, meeting 70% of the drinking water needs, and to meet demand it is estimated that US $53 billion is required to increase its desalination capacity to 10.7million cubic metres per day by 2020.

Alongside the exhibition, a specialist Water Conference will also be staged. This series of non-commercial sessions, independent of sponsors, professional associations or groups, will be led by distinguished water specialists, researchers, and journalists from around the world.

"The objective of the conference is to offer attendees high quality exposure to the very latest developments in the Water Treatment and Desalination sectors," said Woodbridge. "The immediate needs of the region demand innovative solutions using the very latest high efficiency technologies, and the conference will examine cutting edge products and processes that will help the regional water industry."

Among the topics that will be covered are; Desalination Innovations & Trends, Solar Thermal Seawater Desalination, Public/Private Partnerships in Developing Large Scale Irrigation, Desalination Intake & Pretreatment Options and The Importance of the Water Reuse in Countries with Poor Water Resources.

The panel of speakers, who have a wealth of expertise in the field, includes;

Tom Pankratz from the US, who is Editor of the Water Desalination Report, part of Global Water Intelligence. Involved with numerous industry bodies, he has over 30 years of desalination industry experience.

Dr. Corrado Sommariva PhD, who leads the Desalination and Water Treatment Group at Mott MacDonald in Abu Dhabias Divisional Director. He has been involved in the majority of large scale thermal and RO processes in the Middle East in the last 15 years.

Lisa Henthorne, Vice President and Global Director of Desalination Technology, CH2MHill, and a registered Professional Engineer who has more than 20 years experience of working with brackish, waste water and seawater membrane technology both in the U.S. and internationally.

Dr. Julian Blanco who is responsible for Environmental Applications of Solar Energy at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA), a large European scientific installation belonging to the public Spanish research institution CIEMAT (devoted to Energy and Environmental issues). For the last 16 years he has specialised in the application of solar energy to water processes, water detoxification, water disinfection, seawater and brackish water desalination.

Francois Dao, Regional Director Middle East, Degremont, key players in sustainable development. Degremont designs, builds and commissions installations for drinking water production, desalination by reverse osmosis, waste water treatment, and sewage sludge processing.

Chris Jeffery, GE Water & Process Technologies - Zenon, who, utilising advanced membrane technologies and complementary products, cover the entire water cycle from raw water treatment for potable use to industrial wastewater treatment.

Water at Middle East Electricity, one of the world's most respected and influential events for the energy industry, takes place from February 11-14 at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.