Why Saudi Arabia in the desert country doesn't shorage of water? and what the fresh water is double than China.

 Saudi Arabia's location and water resources condition.

Saudi Arabia, located in the central Arabian Peninsula, borders the Persian Gulf to the east, the Red Sea to the west, and shares borders with Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, and Yemen. Connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, its terrain is mainly composed of plateaus, with deserts covering approximately 40% of its land, making it the country with the second-largest desert area globally. Despite being one of the most water-scarce nations with annual rainfall of only 100-200 millimeters and extreme temperatures up to 54 degrees Celsius, Saudi Arabia's per capita daily water usage was 271 liters in 2016, nearly twice the global average and third highest worldwide. 

How does Saudi Arabia obtain water resources？

Since the 1980s, Saudi Arabia built over 200 dams to capture rainfall, but this only provides 10% of water due to scarce rainfall and high evaporation. Initially, they relied on groundwater, which at its peak supplied 40% of water needs, but this source quickly became unsustainable due to depletion.

Seawater desalination is Saudi Arabia's main water source, initiated in the 1990s. By 2020, the country became the world's largest producer, with a daily capacity of over 5.6 million tons, 20% of the global total. The state-owned SWCC operates nearly 40 plants and a 5,000-kilometer pipeline network. This has resolved the country's drinking water needs and some industrial requirements, supporting its development.

The methods of seawater desalination.

Seawater desalination is the process of removing salt and other impurities from seawater to produce freshwater suitable for human consumption and other uses. There are two main methods of seawater desalination:

1) Reverse Osmosis (RO): In this method, seawater is forced through a semipermeable membrane that allows water molecules to pass through while blocking salts and other impurities. Pressure is applied to overcome the osmotic pressure and separate the freshwater from the concentrated brine.

2)Multi-Stage Flash Distillation (MSF) and Multi-Effect Distillation (MED): These methods involve heating seawater to produce steam, which is then condensed to produce freshwater. In MSF, seawater is heated in multiple stages, with each stage at a lower pressure, causing successive flashes of evaporation. In MED, seawater is heated in multiple evaporator stages, with each stage at a lower temperature and pressure, allowing for water vapor to be produced.

The gate valve standard in the seawater desalination.

Gate valves for seawater desalination must resist corrosion, provide excellent sealing, be durable, require minimal maintenance, and be made from corrosion-resistant materials to meet the process's unique challenges. The standards is include AWWA C515, BS5150, API600, ISO10434.

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