The World Bank Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia Final Report Annex 4 Uzbekistan December 2004 DHV Water BV, the Netherlands BRL ingénierie, France Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the BNWP, the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Any references provided in this document to a specific product, process, or service is not intended as, and does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the World Bank of that product, process, service, or its producer or provider. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Table of Contents Summary ................................................................................................................5 1 Country profile ......................................................................................................7 2 Water resources.....................................................................................................9 2.1 Major river systems ..................................................................................................9 2.2 Groundwater resources...........................................................................................10 2.3 Lakes and reservoirs ...............................................................................................10 3 Water Resources Management .......................................................................... 12 3.1 Tuya Muyun - Regional organisation for transportation mains .............................12 3.2 Vodokanal...............................................................................................................13 3.3 Agrovodokanal.......................................................................................................13 3.4 National Standards for Drinking Water..................................................................14 4 Desalination.......................................................................................................... 16 4.1 Electrodialysis ........................................................................................................16 4.2 Reverse Osmosis ....................................................................................................19 4.2.1 Muynak...................................................................................................................20 4.2.2 Takhtakupir.............................................................................................................20 4.3 Maintenance contracts ............................................................................................20 4.4 Pattern of Household Water Consumption.............................................................20 4.5 Household Water Rates and Income ......................................................................21 4.6 Water Cost..............................................................................................................21 5 Energy................................................................................................................... 22 5.1 Conventional Energy..............................................................................................22 5.2 Renewable Energy..................................................................................................22 6 Institutional Aspects............................................................................................ 23 6.1 Water sector Capacity and Capability ....................................................................23 6.2 Private Sector Participation ....................................................................................24 7 Environmental Issues.......................................................................................... 25 7.1 Desalination in Karakalpakstan and other regions.................................................25 7.2 Environmental Impacts...........................................................................................26 7.2.1 Construction Stage..................................................................................................26 7.2.2 Operational Stage ...................................................................................................26 7.3 National Environmental Standards.........................................................................27 7.4 Recommendations for Mitigation...........................................................................28 7.4.1 Institutional and Management Mitigation..............................................................28 7.4.2 Physical Mitigation.................................................................................................29 8 Future Developments .......................................................................................... 31 9 References............................................................................................................ 32 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 4-1 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination List of Appendices Appendix A List of Desalination plants List of Tables Table 1.1 Statistical profile ..................................................................................................8 4-2 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Map of Uzbekistan Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 3 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 4-4 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Summary Water Resources. Special attention is given in this study to the Republic of Karakalpakstan, situated in the north-western part of Uzbekistan. It includes the Amu Darya River delta. The Republic's total area covers 165,600 square kilometres (37 % of Uzbekistan). The climate is typically continental, with very hot summers and cold winters without snow. The area is experiencing severe environmental problems as a result of the shrinking of the Aral Sea. There are several reservoirs in the Amu Darya basin, the largest of which is the Tuya Muyun with a storage capacity of 7,800 MCM, consisting of four separate reservoirs. In the future one reservoir of this system (Kaparas) will be used to provide drinking water for Karakalpakstan. Energy. Access to the electric power and gas is available in the whole territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The only energy source used in all desalination plants is the public power supply network. Uzbekistan has very little experience in the use of wind or solar energy and has no experience of using renewable energy with desalination. Institutions. In Karakalpakstan there are three main water supply organisations. · Tuya Muyun - Regional organisation for water transportation mains. · Agrovodokanal, - Water Company for the rural area. · Vodokanal - Regional water company Water Supply Sector Performance. At present, the drinking water supply for this zone comes from groundwater which is too saline. For communities in this region, the following water supply schemes are possible: · Supply from local fresh groundwater sources; · Connection to the group system of Tuya Muyun-Nukus trunk mains · Truck water supply (supply of water in water trailers) · Desalination of ground water, which is rather brackish. Current Status of Desalination. Since 1987, 200 desalination stations have been constructed in the region. Only 63 are operational at present however. They are run by the Agrovodokanal. These stations are known as EKOS plants and were assembled and built by the "Tambovmash" factory from Tambov in Russia. Feed water is usually obtained from deep wells, ranging between 400 and 600 meters deep. The distribution system basically only has public tapping points. These desalination plants use the electro dialysis process. They are rather basic and robust installations very suitable for the local circumstances. The Vodokanal has two sites where it applies desalination using reverse osmosis. There is one plant in Takhtakupir of 2400m3/day, and there are five small plants in Muynak of 15m3/day each. Private Sector Involvement. In Karakalpakstan private sector involvement has been made possible by law. Management contracts of up to 5 years can be granted, however, no private ownership of water infrastructure is allowed, other than community ownership. Capacity Building. Little is known about capacity and capabilities in the water sector in Uzbekistan. With regard to desalination in particular, proof of underdeveloped skills and expertise can be found in Karakalpakstan particularly with regard to the state of the infrastructure operated. The fact that 63 plants are still running is mainly due to the fact that robust, appropriate technology was chosen, rather than this being a result of qualified operators on-site. Environmental Impact. Brine that derives from the many ED desalination plants is discharged to general collectors. From an ecological point of view this is not correct; brine should be treated instead. This is considered not to be an environmental threat since the quantities of desalinated Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 5 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination water are so small and very local. Moreover, there are no chemicals used in the treatment process, so the composition of the water does not really change. It should be noted that, although these local discharges of brine are of themselves not very significant, that more sustainable approaches should probably be taken in future to the disposal of brine. The brine should eventually be neutralised. Future plans for Desalination. Besides Karakalpakstan there might be potential for desalination in other regions as well. These include Navai region, Bukhara region, Fergana region and Kashkadaria region. 4-6 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 1 Country profile Uzbekistan sprawls over 447,400 sq km (about the size of Sweden), third in size after Kazakstan and Turkmenistan but the most populous (and densely populated) of the five former Soviet republics. It is totally landlocked. Well over two-thirds (most of the central and western part) is flat desert or steppe: the Ustyurt plateau in the far west with its salt marshes and streams that go nowhere, and the vast, barren Kyzylkum (Red Sands) desert in the middle. The only faint relief here is the delta where what remains of the Amu Darya empties into what remains of the Aral Sea. By contrast, eastern Uzbekistan tilts upward towards the mountains of Kyrgyzstan - Tashkent's Chatkal mountains running into the western Tian Shan range, and Samarkand's Fan mountains and a mass of ranges in the south-east flowing into the Pamir Alay. The mountains of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan encircle the Fergana valley. The life-giving rivers all rise in these mountains. Central Asia's greatest waterway, the broad Amu Darya, forms Uzbekistan's short border with Afghanistan and its long one with Turkmenistan, beforea trickle enters the Aral Sea. The region's other defining artery, the Syr Darya, originating in the Fergana valley from two rivers rising in Kyrgyzstan, arcs into Kazakstan on its way to the Aral Sea. Arguably the most valuable river is the Zeravshan, nourisher of ancient Bukhara and Samarkand; theoretically the Amu Darya's biggest tributary, it actually dies in the desert. Most other rivers are either emptied by irrigation or swallowed by the desert. The Soviet Ministry of Water Economy created two wide shallow lakes where there used to be desert, salt pans and marshes, Sarykamish in the west and Aidarkul north of the Nuratin range, as well as a host of smaller unplanned ones. The bulk of Uzbekistan's population, and its richest farmland, are in gaps in the mountains (especially the Fergana valley), on the alluvial plains at their feet, and in the Amu Darya, Syr Darya and Zeravshan valleys. Large areas of Uzbekistan are desert. Summer is long, hot and extremely dry; spring is mild and rainy; autumn has light frosts and rains; and winter, although short, is unstable with snow and temperatures below freezing. From June to August average afternoon temperatures hit 32°C or higher. The average annual maximum temperature is 40°C in June. Most rain falls in March and April. In 1999 an estimated 24 million people lived in Uzbekistan. According to unofficial figures there were about 200,000 Arabs living in Kashkadarya province (around Qarshi) in 1990. Huge numbers of Slavs have emigrated, and the exodus is still running at a net rate of 60,000 people per year. Some 38% of Uzbekistan's people are urban and 62% rural; 90% are Muslim (almost all Hanafi Sunni) and 8% Christian. A third of them live in the Fergana valley, Central Asia's mostly densely populated region. The population growth rate has fallen since independence with the sudden disappearance of subsidies for large families, but is still high at 2.5% per year. Over half the population is under 15 years of age. Fully 37% of Uzbekistan is occupied by the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. The Republic of Karakalpakstan is situated in the north-western part of Uzbekistan. It takes up to north- western part of the Kizil-Kum Desert and the Amu Darya River delta. The Republic's total area covers 165,600 square kilometres. The climate is typically continental, with very hot summers and cold winters without snow. The population of Karakalpakstan is 1.4 million, mainly Uzbek (32.8 %) and Karakalpak (32.1%). About 48 % of the population live in rural areas while the other 52 % live in towns. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 7 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination The Republic is divided into 15 administrative districts, 12 towns and 16 villages. The Republic's administrative centre is Nukus which has a population of 236,700. Other significant towns are Khodjeily, Kungrad and Chimbad. Karakalpakstan was probably at its most prosperous in the 1960s and 1970s when the fruits of expanded irrigation from the Amu Darya were coming on stream, and before the disastrous effects of that same expansion were felt. Since then the republic has borne the brunt of the environmental, economic and health problems that have taken hold, and today the age-old oasis of rivers, lakes, reed beds, marshes, forests and farmland that constitute the Amu Darya delta is being steadily dried up and poisoned, creating a major environmental problem. Table 1.1 Statistical profile Topic Geographical area Central Asia, doubly landlocked Area (km2) 447,400km2 Climate long, hot summers, mild winters Natural resources natural gas, coal, gold, uranium, silver, copper, lead and zinc Land use: arable land 11 % permanent crops 1 % other 88 % Irrigated lands 42,810 km2 Environment - current issues shrinking of Aral Sea, growing concentrations of chemical pesticides, water pollution from industrial wastes, increasing soil salination Population 25.6 million (2002) Population growth 1.62 % (2002) Languages spoken Uzbek, Russian, Tajik Capital city Tashkent Inhabitants Other cities, inhabitants Samarkand, Bukhara Economy world second cotton exporter, gold, oil, chemical and machinery GDP USD 62 billion (2001) GDP per capita USD 2,500 (2001) GDP composition agriculture - 33 % industry - 24 % services - 43 % Industries textiles, machine building, metallurgy, chemicals Agriculture cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain, livestock Administrative divisions 12 provinces plus Republic Karakalpakstan Sources: http://www.countryreports.org/content/uzbekistan.htm CIA - The World Factbook 2002 and 2003 4-8 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 2 Water resources The climate of Uzbekistan is continental, even arid/desertic over 60% of the territory. The average annual rainfall is 264 mm, ranging from 97 mm in the northwest to 425 mm in the mountainous zone in the middle and southern parts of country. In the Fergana valley, the average annual rainfall varies between 98 and 502 mm, while in the Tashkent vilayat, it varies between 295 and 878 mm. Rainfall occurs during the winter season, mainly between October and April. The climate is characterized by high temperatures in summer (42 to 47ºC in the plains and 25 to 30ºC in the mountainous zone in July) and low temperatures in winter (-11ºC in the north and 2 to 3ºC in the south in January). Because of frequent frosts between late September and April, only one crop a year can be grown. However, double cropping of vegetables which have a short growing period is possible in favourable years. 2.1 Major river systems There are two major river basins in Uzbekistan: the Amu Darya basin in the south, covering 86.5% of Uzbekistan and The Syr Darya basin in the north, covering 13.5% of the territory. These basins form the Aral Sea basin. The Amu Darya River can be divided into three reaches: the upper reach bordering Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and where most of the water flow is generated; the middle reach which first borders Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and then enters Turkmenistan; and the lower reach in Uzbekistan, before it discharges into the Aral Sea. The main tributaries within Uzbekistan are the Sherabad, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya and Zeravshan rivers. These last two rise in Tajikistan. The total amount of flow produced in the Amu Darya basin is estimated at 78,460 MCM/year; the 5% and 95% probabilities are estimated at 108,400 and 46,900 MCM/year respectively. Because of important losses in the desertic part of its course, and because of major water withdrawal by agriculture, the flow reaching the Aral Sea is limited to a small percentage of this figure(less than 10% in the driest years). About 4,700 MCM/year, or 6% of the average total surface water resources of the Amu Darya River basin, are generated within Uzbekistan. The Syr Darya River can be divided into three reaches: the upper reach in the Kyrgyz Republic, where most of the water flow is generated; the middle reach in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; and the lower reach in Kazakhstan, before it discharges into the Aral Sea. The main tributaries within Uzbekistan are the Chirchik and Akhangaran rivers, which rise in the Kyrgyz Republic. The total amount of flow produced in the Syr Darya basin is estimated at 37,140 MCM/year; the 5% and 95% probabilities are estimated at 54,100 and 21,400 MCM/year respectively. Because of important losses in the desertic part of its course, and because of major water withdrawal by agriculture, the flow reaching the Aral Sea is limited to a small percentage of this figure (less than 5% in the driest years). About 4,840 MCM/ year, or 13% of the average surface water resources of the Syr Darya river basin, are generated within Uzbekistan. During the Soviet period, the sharing of water resources among the five Central Asian republics was on the basis of the master plans for water resources development in the Amu Darya (1987) and Syr Darya (1984) basins. In 1992, with the establishment of the Interstate Commission for Water Coordination, the newly independent republics decided, with the Agreement of 18 February 1992, to prepare a regional water strategy, but to continue to respect the existing principles until the adoption of a new water sharing agreement to be proposed by this new water strategy. The surface water resources allocated to Uzbekistan are calculated every year, depending on the climatic situation and the existing flows. However, on average, it can be considered that the estimated average surface runoff which comes from the upstream countries is: · 22,330 MCM/year for the Syr Darya River basin at the border between the Kyrgyz Republic Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 9 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination and Uzbekistan, of which 11,800 MCM/year is transit flow to Tajikistan; · 11,540 MCM/year for the Syr Darya River basin at the border between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, of which 10,000 MCM/year is transit flow to Kazakhstan; · 22,000 MCM/year for the Amu Darya River basin. 2.2 Groundwater resources There are 94 major aquifers in Uzbekistan. The renewable groundwater resources are estimated at 19,680 MCM/year, of which 12,880 MCM/year are considered to be overlap with surface resources. Limits to groundwater abstraction for each aquifer in Central Asia have been established. It is permitted to use only such a quantity of groundwater that does not cause surface flow reduction. This quantity is estimated at 6,800 MCM/year for Uzbekistan. However, the actual groundwater abstraction is estimated at 7,500 MCM/year, which thus leads to surface flow reduction. 2.3 Lakes and reservoirs The collector-drainage water outflow has led to the creation of artificial lakes in natural depressions. The largest lakes are: Lake Aydarkul, in the Arnasay depression in the middle reach of Syr Darya, storing about 30,000 MCM in 1995; the Sarykamish and Sudochie lakes, both located in the lower reach of the Amu Darya, storing 8,000 and 2,000 MCM respectively. Several lakes have also been formed in the central part of the country in the Amu Darya basin, the largest being Lake Parsankul storing about 2,000 MCM, close to the Zeravshan River. There are 50 reservoirs in Uzbekistan with a total capacity of about 19,000 MCM; 21 of them with a total capacity of 5,000 MCM in the Syr Darya basin, and 29 with a total capacity of 14,000 MCM in the Amu Darya basin. The largest reservoirs are multipurpose dams, used for irrigation, flood control and hydropower production. In the Syr Darya basin, the largest reservoirs are the Charvak reservoir, with a capacity of 1,990 MCM, on the Chirchik River near the capital Tashkent, and the Andijan reservoir, with a capacity of 1,900 MCM, on the Karadarya River in the Fergana valley. In the Amu Darya basin, the largest reservoir is the Tuya Muyun, in the Khorezm vilayat, with a storage capacity of 7,800 MCM, consisting of four separate reservoirs. It is expected that in the future one reservoir of this system (Kaparas) will be used to provide drinking water for Karakalpakstan. This area is experiencing severe environmental problems as a result of the shrinking of the Aral Sea. At present, the drinking water supply for this zone comes from groundwater which is too saline. Irrigation has created serious environmental problems in Uzbekistan, the most dramatic effect being the shrinking of the Aral Sea. According to a World Bank report, the main environmental impacts of irrigation in the Aral Sea basin include: (1) the loss of fish resources in the Aral Sea, due to an increase in salinity and chemical pollution; (2) land degradation through waterlogging and salinization of irrigated land; (3) crop diseases and pests, due especially to the cotton monoculture; (4) adverse health effects on people and animals, due to wind-blown chemicals and the poor quality of water; and (5) possible local climatic change. Drainage water is the principal carrier of environmental pollution, since it contains the results of mineralization and residues from pesticides. The restoration of the Aral Sea to its 1960 level is not an objective for the country, although assistance to the 'disaster' zone is seen as a priority. Actions to be taken are: the stabilization of the exposed seabed; land reclamation in the delta; improved drinking water supply, health and general actions to promote the socio-economic conditions of the population in the area. 4-10 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination In a context of demographic growth and higher demand for water from the industrial and domestic sectors, it is now generally accepted that the Aral Sea should be maintained at its present level. This also implies that water management has to be improved, in order to constantly reduce water withdrawal for irrigation. This could be achieved through reducing water losses from the inter- and on-farm irrigation network, and through increasing overall production in a sustainable way, notably by implementing techniques for the desalinisation of irrigated land. The construction of a major collector to bring drainage water from the lower Amu Darya irrigated areas directly to the Aral Sea has been undertaken. This measure also favours the stabilization of the Aral Sea level and the improvement of water quality in the main rivers. Water savings in irrigation should enable the development of other sectors of the economy. An important thrust of irrigation and water management improvement at the on-farm level would be to move from a state run system to privatisation of irrigated agriculture, notably through the establishment of Water User Associations (WUAs). This process is developing at a very slow pace. Implementation of water pricing in the industrial and municipal sectors, as well as agricultural water pricing, may also provide room for water savings in the future. At international level, mechanisms to introduce water quality issues into water sharing agreements are under discussion. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 11 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 3 Water Resources Management The Water Resources Department (WRD) operates within the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources that was formed in 1966 after the merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources. The WRD is in charge of water resources research, planning, development and the distribution of the water to the various users. It also undertakes the construction, operation and maintenance of the irrigation and drainage networks at the inter-farm level in the country. Organisations dealing with water management at state provincial and district level come also under the WRD. These organisations are responsible for water distribution and delivery to the farm-inlet, for assisting water users in implementing advanced technologies and for water use and water quality control. The WRD is also responsible for land reclamation. A water law was approved in 1993. Water savings play an important role in the law. It also discusses water pricing. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs used to be responsible for domestic water supply and waste water treatment. These tasks have now been delegated to local bodies. This study focuses mainly on the part of Uzbekistan that is called the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and which is located in the North of the country near the Aral Sea. In Karakalpakstan, there are 1194 rural settlements. 46% of these are provided with drinking water of some kind. 54% use open sources for drinking water. Over the past two years it has been extremely dry, so as an emergency measure 3000 hand-pumps were installed, pumping water from 9-10 meters deep. This has proven to be a helpful temporary solution. In total 430,000 people, in very remote places, are without water. By the year 2010 these people should have access to water. Almost 100% have electricity. 96% have access to gas. The President's priority programme is to connect everybody to water and gas. In Karakalpakstan there are three main water supply organisations. · Tuya Muyun - Regional organisation for water transportation mains. · Vodokanal - Regional water company · Agrovodokanal, - Water Company for the rural area. 3.1 Tuya Muyun - Regional organisation for transportation mains The Tuya Muyun organisation is responsible for the management of the transportation of water to the regional centres in Karakalpakstan and other regions. The water of the Amu Darya river that flows through the area cannot be directly used for drinking, since it is of low quality. To supply the water to the people in the region the Karapas reservoir was created on the Amu Darya river and treatment facilities were installed. The reservoir is being filled with water at times of floods when the salinity of the river water is the lowest. The treated water is distributed through a regional transportation system. The salt concentration in the reservoir is between 0.9 and 1.4 gram/litre. The population along the entire right bank of Amu Darya river is provided with water from the transport main, up to a point north of Nukus on the route Nukus - Chimbay - Takhtakupir. Water is pumped at 3.5 bar at the intake of the water transmission main, further pumping (in two stages) brings the pressure in the pipeline up to 5 to 6 bar. In Nukus there is an additional pumping station. To transport water further than is currently done (beyond Nukus) would be too expensive, because of the fact that the region is very sparsely populated and settlements are small. Rather it would be 4-12 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination advantageous to supply the population with water taken from groundwater. However the ground water in the north is very salty. Therefore local desalination projects were implemented. The Design Institute made preliminary calculations to this extent. 3.2 Vodokanal The Vodokanal, the Regional water company, is responsible for urban water supply. The main source of water is water bought from the Tuya Muyun transmission main organisation. Water distribution is the Vodokanal's main task. The Vodokanal has its own collectors and treatment systems, and some surface water from Amu Darya. The Vodokanal also makes use of wells of between 40 and 50 meters deep. The Vodokanal has two sites where it applies desalination. There is one plant in Tahtakuper of 2400m3/day supplied by Preussag, and there are five small plants in Muynak of 15m3/day each, manufactured by SFEC from Lyon, France. 3.3 Agrovodokanal. The Agrovodokanal also buys water from the Tuya Muyun transmission main organisation, mainly for agricultural use and for rural organisations. In addition Agrovodokanal has 63 operational desalination plants, with a capacity ranging from 50 to 150 m3/day. The cost of desalination is difficult to determine, since the plants were purchased during the soviet period. The rural population in Karakalpakstan has potentially three sources of water: · Water from the transmission main (bought by the Agrovodokanal from Tuya Muyun) (20% of the population) · Groundwater aquifers at 30 to 50 meters deep (50 to 55% of the population) · Desalination (25 to 30% of the population) In the South there are some good sources of potable water, groundwater can be used there. There is little potential for desalination in the south. The Uzbek Hydrological Institute found some sources of potable water in the North as well. Nukus is the only place in Karakalpakstan where sewerage is available, and wastewater is treated. In all other places so little water is used that no sewers have been constructed, let alone that water treatment is available. The Agrovodokanal has a financial problem, caused by the collapse of the Kolkhoz system. During the Soviet rule, water was supplied to the Kolkhozes almost for free. In urban areas there was some charge, in rural areas it was virtually free. Moreover the Kolkhoz, or the Sovkhoz paid for the water, so people are not used to paying for water. Also, there are public taps, but payments are individual. Therefore the Agrovodokanal has to enter into individual contracts with households. This process is in its very first stage. The Agrovodokanal is subsidized by the Ministry of Finance. The people are, not expectedly, unwilling to pay for an estimated water use of 150 litres per family per day, when they are using public taps. The Agrovodokanal has two ongoing pilot projects, where house connections are being built. In one project individual connections are metered in the other project meters were not installed. In total some 17,000 families were connected, or 110,000 people. People that could afford it paid for the meter, others received a credit to purchase the water meter. The results were that people started using less water and that people are willing to pay for the real quantity of water used. The average consumption for metered supply amounts to some 25 litre/capita/day. The estimated consumption for non-metered supply (based on an estimation after bulk-metering) is 70 litre/capita/day. It should be noted that this project concerns non-desalinated water. The results of the study have lead to the principle decision that in the future all water supply Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 13 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination will be metered. At very short notice 2500 meters will be installed. Tariffs for water supply from the large transmission main are UZS 63 per m3. The cost of water supply is about twice this amount. Desalinated water costs UZS 203 per m3, while the tariff is around UZS 112 m3. It is unclear how costs are determined, since elsewhere it was stated that the cost of the plants are not known. It was also found that there is a lot of confusion about how much water is produced, sold, etc. With regard to the tariff it was learned that in the villages visited that have desalination plants people pay a small monthly fee (UZS 300 to 400 per month), instead of a tariff based upon quantity used. Under a USAID grant 10 Reverse Osmosis plants will be installed in the region. Given the conditions in the area it is considered that RO plants are not the most appropriate plants to be constructed. The water from these plants will be distributed through a system of public taps. People will have to pay at the tap. One person will be responsible for registering the consumption per family and in recording this, keep a good record of who has consumed what quantities of water. This has not been done before in Uzbekistan. The total operational desalination capacity of the Agrovodokanal is 249 units of 25 m3/day, spread over 65 stations. They operate using the electro-dialysis principle. The average power consumption for an ED unit is estimated to be around 1.5-2 kWh/m3 for water with a salinity of 3-4 grams/litre. The gross power consumption, including pumping, lighting, heating, etc. is estimated to be around 5 kWh. There is no private sector involvement in the operations of Agrovodokanal. The Agrovodokanal does all the work tself. Legally it is possible to have private sector involvement. It is allowed to i draw up a management contract for up to five years. It is not allowed for a private company to own water supply infrastructure. At the same time, it is however possible to have community owned water supply infrastructure. The electricity tariff is UZS 12.1 per kWh. This is apparently not subsidized. Four user groups have been identified when it comes to electricity consumption: domestic use, industry, services, and public organizations. Pumping stations are charged UZS 7 per kWh. In 1999 a Domestic and Potable Water Supply Development Plan up to the year 2010 was developed for the Republic of Uzbekistan. This document describes main options of drinking quality water supply, including the use of desalinated water. In each specific case technical and economic estimates aimed to determine whether the construction of the desalination unit is reasonable are carried out. In the Republic of Karakalpakstan only a small part of urban population is covered with the services of centralized sewerage system. In Nukus (regional centre), Takhiatash, and Kungrad only 25-30% of the population are connected to the sewerage system. In other regional centres and in the rural area there is no centralized sewerage system. Water losses in the urban area of the Republic of Karakalpakstan is thought to be between 30 to 35 percent. At present actions on water loss reduction are being implemented under the Institutional Strengthening Program (consulting services provided by SRP/AHT (Germany)). 3.4 National Standards for Drinking Water National standards of quality of drinking water and rules for construction of water intakes are as 4-14 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination follows: · Drinking water quality ­ GOST Oz DSt 950:2000 "Drinking Water" · Water supply sources ­ SanPiN "Hygiene and sanitary and technical requirements to the sources of domestic and potable water supply. Rules of selection". · Construction of water supply systems ­ KMK 2.04.02-97 "Water Supply, Outside systems and facilities" Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 15 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 4 Desalination 4.1 Electrodialysis A regional assessment of ground water reserves made by local hydrogeological organizations has proved the availability of brackish ground water in all provinces of the Republic. The growing deficit of fresh water has justified the use of brackish water desalination in some of the more remote rural areas not served by the trunk distribution system. One such area is in the Republic of Karakalpakstan close to the Aral Sea with a population of 1.5 million. For communities in this region, the following water supply schemes are possible: · Supply from local fresh groundwater sources; · Connection to the group system of Tuya Muyun-Nukus trunk mains · Truck water supply (supply of water in water trailers) Feasibility study of the various water supply schemes is prepared for each specific case. For remote communities desalination using electrodialysis is the best option. Figure4.1 EKOS plants in Karakalpakstan. In some areas in the northwest of Karakalpakstan there are lenses of brackish ground water which are being used as feedwater for desalination units to supply rural communities of 200 to 3000 inhabitants with potable water. There are some 1200 such settlements. The salinity of the water drawn from these boreholes is in the range of 2-6 g/l and at a depth of 400 to 500 m. The desalinated water has a salinity of l g/1 and meets the national standard. Since 1987, 200 desalination stations have been constructed in the region. These stations are known as EKOS plants 4-16 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination and were assembled and built by the "Tambovmash" factory from Tambov in Russia. The construction programme continued until 1993 but with diminishing intensity. The location of some of these stations is shown in Figure 4.1. Capacity of these desalination units varies from 50 to 150 m3/day. Feed water is usually obtained from deep wells, ranging between 400 and 600 meters deep. After it is treated the water is typically stored in a 50 m3 or so reservoir. From there it is pumped in the rather plain transportation and distribution system. Desalinated water is transported typically over a length of 4 km. This transportation main basically only has public tapping points and no distribution system connected to it, let alone house connections. These desalination plants are of modular construction and use the electrodialysis process. Each self-containing module consists of two electrodialysis "stacks", electric panel, hydraulic control center, activated carbon post filter, UV disinfection unit, transfer pumps and interconnecting pipework all housed in a heated metal container. Each electrodialysis stack is designed to produce approximately l m3/hour of desalinated water. The actual output depends on the salinity of the feedwater, therefore the designed output of the module is approximately 50 m3/day. Figure4.2. AQAMIN ED Units Figure 4.3. Water Storage Tanks Figure4.4. Typical AQUAMIN ED Plant Figure 4.5 ED Membrane Stacks Depending on the number of population to be served, the stations normally consist of 1, 2 or 3 modules providing theoretical output of 50, 100 or 150 m3/d respectively. In addition to the desalinating modules the desalination station normally involves a borehole with a borehole pump, brackish water reservoir, fresh water reservoir, and a pump house to pump desalinated water to the network. Some stations pump water directly from borehole to the electrodialysis stack. The modules can operate in continuous mode but the pumping into network is intermittent to reduce Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 17 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination consumption and prevent the use of expensive desalinated water for irrigation and watering of cattle. In most areas there is an alternative source of supply and desalinated water is only used when water of potable standard is required. Figure4.6. Collecting water . Membrane Stack Maintenance The alternative source is drawn from shallow wells and boreholes fitted with hand pumps or from the irrigation system. It is important to note that the irrigation network does not operate all the year round. During two recent years it was functioning intermittently due to the draught in Uzbekistan. Figures 4.2 to 4.7 show different views of a typical electrodialysis desalination installation. The design service life of these desalination stations is estimated by the suppliers to be about 10 years. Many of the stations have now reached or are approaching this age. The service life of the membranes under the conditions of Karakalpakstan is assessed to be 3 to 4 years, which is considerably less than in other regions. One reason for the reduced life of the membranes is that the units are manually cleaned by traveling O&M crews. Through improvisation, it is possible to keep the units running even when important replacement components are unavailable. Budgetary restraints gives rise to an acute shortage of spare parts. The stations are operated by Agrovodocanal which has special responsibility for water supply in rural areas. This agency is financed mainly through payments collected from the population and from other organizations that it supplies with water. Part of the operational expenses used for maintenance and operation of the desalination stations is allocated from the state budget. This is due to the fact that these desalination stations serve the population living in areas with very low income levels. The average family size in Karakalpakstan is 6 to 7. The basic electrodialysis process is described in an earlier section of this report. Raw water is pumped from boreholes either directly to the desalination plant or to a storage tank. The water 4-18 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination produced by the plants is passed through an active carbon filter and sterilisation is by manual addition of sodium hypochlorite (bleach). This is in fact an improvement as it gives the water some residual chlorine which maintains a degree of sterility in the storage tank and in the local distribution network. The units were supplied with a UV sterilisation system but these were out of action as there were no replacement bulbs. The equipment as supplied is essential very basic and relatively simple to maintain. Instrumentation and electrical equipment has been kept to a bare minimum. This has two advantages. Firstly it reduces the cost of the unit and secondly it simplifies maintenance. These units are excellent examples of applying appropriate technology. Within these rural communities water is distributed via a network of standpipes. This is shown in Fig. 4.6. This is no doubt a major improvement in water supply over the inconvenience and effort of having to travel to a well and to draw water from the well. However it falls far short of the convenience of a piped supply to the house. Currently water consumption in these small villages is assessed on family size and payment is collected accordingly. During 2002 four desalination units of "AQUAMIN" (Spain) were procured and installed under Uzbekistan: Water Supply, Sanitation and Health Project financed by the IBRD. The earlier, EKOS design, (Fig. 4.7) suffers from corrosion problems due to the use of painted steel components. The later Aqamin design, Figs. 4.4 and 4.5 make extensive use of plastic components which are much more corrosion resistant. All maintenance is done by the AgrovodoKanal. Twelve technicians are travelling around to service the desalination stations. Two technicians can carry out all maintenance of a plant in 3 days, including cleaning the membranes and servicing the pumps. In the central offices there is a special facility to test the pumps. In 1993 the last plant was installed. The cost was around USD 50,000 per plant of 100 m3. Each desalination station has two operators, assuring an around the clock presence. Each morning the operator phones regional chief engineer in the regional centre of the Agrovodocanal to report about the operations. The regional chief engineer sends his report to the headquarters of the Agrovodocanal on a monthly basis. The operators are supposed to keep a log of operations of the plant. Repairs that need to be carried out on the water supply system (transportation and possible distribution) can be done by the regional organisation of the Vodokanal. Any defect on a plant has to be repaired by the central organisation. Agrovodokanal has budgetary problems which restrict the amount of maintenance that is carried out. This is a major problem and compromises the operation of the entire system. Various companies, both local and foreign are supplying other equipment for desalination units, including the spare parts. Supply of equipment procured through the IBRD funds under Rehabilitation of Desalination Units in the Republic of Karakalpakstan Component is based on the international competitive bidding. Within 2001-2003, under the project Uzbekistan: Water Supply, Sanitation and Health Project funded by the IBRD major refurbishment of many of the desalination plants took place. The rehabilitation of these desalination stations will extend their service life by 5 to 10 years. Many other areas of Uzbekistan could also benefit from the application of desalination. 4.2 Reverse Osmosis The Vodokanal has two sites where it applies desalination using reverse osmosis. There is one plant in Takhtakupir of 2400m3/day supplied by Preussag, and there are five small plants in Muynak of 15m3/day each, manufactured by SFEC from Lyon, France. Muynak is located in the north of Karakalpakstan and 30 years ago was on the edge of the Aral Sea. Since then the coastline has retreated about 150 km. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 19 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 4.2.1 Muynak Muynak is a village of some 14,000 people. The water quality in Muynak is poor, there is not much water available. To provide the people with drinking water desalination plants were constructed. These are located at the localhospital, the kindergarten, the school, a fish cannery and the water collection facility. The only pre-treatment is filtration (3 stages). The feed water for the desalination plants has a salinity of some 3 grams/litre. It is supplied from the municipal pipeline or in case of non-availability from 8 to 10 deep wells. The plants were installed in 2000. SFEC has provided the membranes. There are still spare parts for the coming 5 years. The plant is equipped with an active carbon filter. There is also a deep aquifer in Muynak, but the water is very saline, up to 40 grams per litre. Four of the stations are built in containers. The plant, installed at the local hospital is not built into a container. Muynak is in a very difficult situation, since people do not pay for their water. There are large differences between projected and actual consumption. The plants run at less then 10% of their capacity. The design energy consumption is 4.3 kWh/m3. This includes also power for heating during wintertime. The real power consumption is lower, but unknown. The recovery ratio is estimated to be 90% (this means that 10% of the water that goes through the desalination system is discharged as brine). So in addition to the desalination infrastructure, including transportation infrastructure, which was paid for with a French loan, wells were made for water supply in dry periods. They accepted the loan, since it has a grace period of 35 years. The quality of the product water is between 0.5 and 1.3 grams / litre. 4.2.2 Takhtakupir Another plant is installed in Takhtakupir, provided by Preussag. The plant produces 2400m3/day. The water is sourced from 3 deep wells (475 meter deep). The salinity lies between 2-4 grams/litre. This is an RO plant. It is unclear who provided the membranes. There are still 72 spare membranes left. The plant was constructed in 1993. Tuya Muyun now runs the plant, no longer the Vodokanal. Greenhorse pumps are installed at the facility. An active carbon filter was foreseen in the lay-out, but this filter is not used. Sulphuric Acid is used to bring the Ph level down. The Vodokanal feels that it was a mistake to install such a large plant. They would rather see a series of small plants installed, for local desalination, linked to a system of public taps. The rationale for this is: · One does not need a transportation / distribution system; · People waste less water at the public tap; · No sanitation / sewerage is necessary. In Tahtakupir 8 staff are working, the plant which was a gift from the Red Cross. The 5 plants in Muynak are operated by 9 staff. 4.3 Maintenance contracts All desalination plants located in the territory of the Republic of Karakalpakstan are owned by the Agrovodokanal water agency which ensures the maintenance of these stations. Because of the quality of the raw water, the units require to have the membrane stacks dismantled and cleaned every six months. Agrovodokanal also operates its own sources of fresh groundwater, trunk mains, pumping stations, and distribution networks in the rural areas. Previously, contracts for supply of potable water were made with the collective farms. Following recent reforms, contracts are now being made directly with the consumers. 4.4 Pattern of Household Water Consumption The norms of water consumption per capita in various regions of the Republic differ. They depend on the level of house equipping with the services, i.e. availability of hot water supply, heating system, sewerage, gas supply, etc, availability of the water meters, quantity of industrial and 4-20 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination agricultural water consumption, demand for cattle watering in rural area, level of water losses and etc. It is worth to note that the Program for installation of water meters both in urban and rural area is being implemented in Uzbekistan. A forecast reduction of the water consumption per capita per day (average) in the system of piped water supply is expected to be the following: Consumers 1998 2005 2010 Urban population 318 276 180 Rural population, subject to cattle 160 137 128 watering* *- Present average water consumption in the desalination plant service area is 75 l/day per capita. 4.5 Household Water Rates and Income Various water tariffs apply throughout the Republic of Uzbekistan. They depend on the type of existing water supply schemes and systems, availability of cross subsidies, quantity of state subsidies to the water agencies. etc. Present tariffs in the Republic of Karakalpakstan are as follows: In the urban area: UZS 40 per m3 for households; UZS 570 per m3 for budget organizations, such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals and others; and UZS 727 per m3 for industry. Within the next few years it is planned to eliminate the cross subsidies. In the rural area: UZS 40 to 70 per m3. (Rate: USD 1 ­ around UZS 960) At present in the Aral Sea zone (Republic of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm Region) a Program of institutional strengthening of the water agencies is being implemented with the funds of the IBRD. Under this Program the forecast tariffs are being estimated subject to the newly issued regulations, including the correction of the law. Average monthly household income in the Republic of Karakalpakstan is as follows: Urban population: around 20 to 25 thousand soums (average number of family members ­ 5) Rural population: 15 to 20 thousand soums (average number of family members 5­ 6) 4.6 Water Cost In the urban area of the Republic of Karakalpakstan the Vodokanal water agency operates water supply and sewerage systems. After 9 months of the year 2002 the average water cost made 95,11 soum/m3. The State does not give subsidies to this water agency. Some water is being purchased by the Vodokanal from the Tuyamuyun-Nukus bulk supplier. The rate charged to Vodokanal for this water is 27.6 soum/m3, part of these costs is recovered from the state subsidy. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 21 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 5 Energy 5.1 Conventional Energy Access to the electric power and gas is available in the whole territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan, including the Republic of Karakalpakstan. The State owns all energy sources. The electricity supply is metered, gas is not. The only energy source used in all desalination plants is the public power supply network. Power would appear to be available intermittently. Consequently the desalination units are not in continuous operation 5.2 Renewable Energy Uzbekistan has very little experience in the use of wind or solar energy and has no experience of using renewable energy with desalination. Experience with renewable energy has been very limited and mainly confined to supplying small remote communities with power for lighting, water pumping and sheep shearing. They are looking at hybrid systems running on both biomass and thermal energy. 4-22 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 6 Institutional Aspects 6.1 Water sector Capacity and Capability Little is known about capacity and capabilities in the water sector in Uzbekistan. With regard to desalination in particular, proof of underdeveloped skills and expertise can be found in Karakalpakstan where most desalination takes place, particularly with regard to the state of the infrastructure operated. Of apparently 150 plants built, only 63 are operational. The mere fact that at least 63 plants are still running is mainly due to the fact that robust, appropriate technology was chosen, rather than this being a result of qualified operators on-site. Whereas some of the newer plants visited seemed to be operated reasonably well, proof of sub-standard operational skills was found at some older plants. The plants are generally run by the Agrovodokanal, an organisation that is experiencing serious financial problems. Attracting qualified staff by an organisation that is basically without any financial resources will be difficult, which means that the quality of operations, and rather the quality of water supply may easily end up going down a downward spiral, once problems start occurring, requiring specialist attention to address these problems. This specialist capacity does not seem to be present at the Agrovodovod. The financial problems lead to very ad-hoc maintenance of the desalination facilities, and water supply infrastructure in general. One of the people interviewed stated: "Maintenance in Karakalpakstan is carried out if and when necessary, but only if and when affordable". Although it is stated that the real cost of desalination are not known, a standardized cost of sum 203 /m3 is used. Tariffs are said to be UZS 112 per m3, but in practice a family is only charged some UZS 300-400 per month. The reasons for the low cash generation capabilities of the water company have their roots in the period of Soviet rule. During the Soviet period water was virtually for free, and if a charge was paid, this was done by the Kolkhoz or Sovkhoz, not by the individual families. Now that the Kolkhoz / Sovkhoz system has collapsed, nobody is either used to or capable of paying for water. What aggravates the situation is the fact that families are now charged individually for water use (based on the size of the family) while water is supplied through a system of public stand-pipes, which means that control of the use of water is very difficult. The overall planning and management of water resources in Uzbekistan seems to be embedded in a better-organized and qualified environment. The Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources Management, established in 1996 after the merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources, is in charge of water resources research, planning, development and distribution. It also undertakes the construction, operation and maintenance of the irrigation and drainage networks at the inter-farm level in the country. Institutional organizations dealing with water management at state, provincial and district level come under the Water Resources Department. Other institutions involved with water supply in Uzbekistan are: · The Ministry of Municipal Affairs is responsible for domestic water supply and wastewater treatment. · The Central Asia Scientific Research Institute of Irrigation (SANIIRI), which carries out research in the water resources development sector This autonomous institute of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources Management was previously responsible for all Central Asia. It also manufactures irrigation equipment. · The Goskompriroda (Environment State Committee) which is in charge of water quality Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 23 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination monitoring and control of industrial and municipal pollutants. A water law was approved in May 1993. It introduced the notion of water rights. Within the general objective of water savings, Article 30 emphasizes the need for water pricing, although it still leaves room for subsidies to the water sector. 6.2 Private Sector Participation An important issue that puts a restraint on private sector participation are the low tariffs that are in place as well as the low collection rate. As indicated by the Agrovodokanal in Karakalpakstan "Karakalpakselkhozvodoprovod", which has 63 desalination stations in operation, the income generated from water supply activities is extremely low. If a private party were engaged to carry out any services for the water company, the latter would have instant difficulties paying the private party due to a very limited cash flow. This is confirmed in a meeting with the State Geological Institute, where it is stated that the desalination in Uzbekistan is not as much as a problem of the water being saline, it is rather a problem of funding and finance, as well as operating capacity and capabilities. In Karakalpakstan private sector involvement has been made possible by law. Management contracts of up to 5 years can be granted, however, no private ownership of water infrastructure is allowed, other than community ownership. Other than desalination, there is some private sector participation in Uzbekistan in the water sector. Under a USD 3 million grant and USD 17 million loan scheme KfW is supporting the development of a water supply project in the Khorezm region. Once the infrastructure has been realized, 48,000 people living in 6 former Sovkhozes and Kolkhozes will get private water supply. The project is being developed by Obi Hayot, as main promoter, in co-operation with Sov Ta Minoty. Obi Hayot is a 75% privately held research and development, engineering, contracting firm in the field of water management and water supply, which used to be a fully state-owned company. The contract type could be qualified as a concession or rather a BOO. Obi Hayot has taken on the entire responsibility for the project, including taking on the loan. It speaks for itself that the loan is guaranteed by the Uzbek Government. This project is carried out on the basis of full-cost recovery, and all connections will metered. This project is feasible because the per capita income in Khorezm region is relatively high, so people can afford water at a full-cost recovery tariff. 4-24 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 7 Environmental Issues 7.1 Desalination in Karakalpakstan and other re gions Given the occurrence of saline water resources, the water problem in Uzbekistan is particularly one of quality rather then quantity. Desalination began in the late eighties and early nineties. The predominant technology is ED, using containerised equipment. Due to the region being very sparsely populated opting for large-scale desalination does not seem to be a viable solution. There are two main rivers in Uzbekistan from which surface water can be sourced. In Karakalpakstan and Khoresm region surface water is used quite extensively. The main storage in the region is the Kaparas lake (artificial), some 200 km south from Nukus. At the reservoir treatment takes place, but after 350 km of transportation (Tuya Moyum-Nukus-Chimbay- Tahtakupir), the water quality has still deteriorated. Amu Darya river water cannot be directly used for drinking water, since it is of low quality. The main sources of pollution of the Amu Darya and its confluents (Surkhandarya, Sherabad), Zaravshan and Kashkadarya rivers are the enterprises of chemical, oil, gas and food-processing industries, steam power plants, mining, municipal, agriculture and irrigated agriculture. Therefore an artificial lake was created to function as a reservoir. At the artificial lake, treatment facilities are installed. The treated water is distributed through a regional transportation system. The salt concentration in the lake is between 0.9 and 1.4 gram/litre. The population along the entire right bank of Amu Darya river is provided with water from the main. To transport water further than it is currently done would be too expensive, particularly because of the fact that the region is very sparsely populated and settlements are small. Rather it would be advantageous to implement local desalination projects. Preliminary calculations to this extent were made by the Design Institute. Ground water in the north is very salty. In the south there are some good sources of potable water; lenses can be used there. There is little potential for desalination in the south. Karakalpakstan can be divided into three zones: the North, South and and Left zones. The South has a developed water supply system, while the North has not. In the South there are potable groundwater resources, whereas in the North there is only brackish drinking water. Under the World Bank Project, the installation of 120 km distribution network is foreseen, and currently tender documents for 20,000 house connections are under preparation. In total, 62 stations are envisaged for rehabilitation, however not necessarily under the World Bank project. In Muynak five plants have been built. The criterion of salinity of water is 1.5 grams of salt/litre. (In Europe and Russia this is 1 gram. The difference in standards makes desalination in Uzbekistan different from more developed countries). Water gets saltier if it is abstracted from deeper sources. In certain parts of Karakalpakstan water has up to 6 grams salt/litre. This is not as extreme as the groundwater in Muynak, where salt concentrations of 100 grams/litre are measured, making the water almost as salty as seawater. Karakalpakstan has hardly any sweet water resources, and no sweet water at all in the north. There are however 2 high salinity aquifers. For the entire region, the average salinity is some 3 grams/litre. At Tuya Muyum on the Amu Darya river there is an intake and reservoir that feed into a main transmission with a 17,000-200,000 m3/day capacity. At Tuya Muyum there are two WTW for Karakalpakstan and Khorezm each with a 170.000 m3/day capacity. No desalination takes place here. Urgench and Nukus are the most important consumption centres. However, there are some 70 desalination stations in operation in the region, with capacities of typically between 50-150m3/day. These plants serve very small populations of between some 200 and 2000 people. In the region of Karakalpakstan there are some 1200 of these small-scale settlements. During the past 15 years, some 200 ED plants were built. The feedwater for these stations comes Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 25 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination generally from wells of some 500 m in depth. There are some natural sources that have yield of some 15-20 litres per second, with a salinity of 3 grams. Furthermore there are around 500 shallow wells in the region. This is useful, since water from shallow wells is less saline than water that comes from deeper underground. The real problem of desalination is not so much a problem of water availability, it is rather a problem of equipment and operations. Everything depends on the funding and financial means that are available. The Vodokanal operates 5 very small stations in Muynak. (15 m3/day each), manufactured by SFEC from Lyon ­ France. The feedwater for these plants has a salinity of some 3 g/l. The plants were installed in 2000; SFEC also provides the membranes. There are still spare parts for the coming 5 years. The plant is equipped with an active carbon filter. There is also a deep aquifer in Muynak, but the water is very saline, up to 40 g/l. 7.2 Environmental Impacts Only 27% of Uzbekistan's territory (120,000 square km with a population of 11 million people) meets national environmental standards for the quality of ambient air, water and soil. There are environmental problems in every oblast of the country, but the areas with the greatest environmental concerns are usually localized. The Republic of Karakalpakstan, Khoresm oblast, Fergana oblast, and Navoi oblast are examples of areas experiencing the most significant pressures on the environment and natural resource base. The key environmental problems in Uzbekistan ar e: · an insufficient supply of safe drinking water; · the scarcity and pollution of water resources; · the salinisation and degradation of land; · air pollution in the largest cities and industrial centres; · the accumulation of solid wastes; · the contaminationof food products; · desertification and loss of biodiversity. Shrinkage of the Aral Sea is one of the higher-profile issues in Uzbekistan and other riparian countries; it is a problem that has resulted in growing concentrations of chemical pesticides and natural salts. These substances are then blown from the increasingly exposed lake bed and contribute to desertification; water pollution from industrial wastes and the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides is the cause of many human health disorders, thus increasing soil salinisation; soil contamination from buried nuclear processing and agricultural chemicals, including DDT. The below impacts are described in general in Chapter 8 of the Main Report; these impacts are also valid for the situation in Uzbekistan. More specific impacts for the more unusual situation in Uzbekistan are presented in the following sections. 7.2.1 Construction Stage While this stage does not apply to existing structures, certain general impacts may apply to those that are scheduled for refurbishment. 7.2.2 Operational Stage Energy Use and Air Quality In Uzbekistan, ED plants are much more common than RO. ED is normally a fuel/energy-intensive process in comparison to RO; however, the installations in Uzbekistan are small and primarily serve people on a fairly local basis. With the capacity of the ED plant between 150-200 m3/day, the average power consumption for the ED unit is less than for the RO unit. Therefore, the initial steps that have been taken by the country against climate change in signing the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and ratifying it in 1999 (UNFCCC, 2003) are not affected by these activities. 4-26 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Discharges of Brine to the Environment In the northern part of Karakalpakstan (Tahtakupir) there is a 2400 m3/day RO desalination plant. Brine is discharged to general collectors. From a ecological point of view this is not correct; brine should be treated instead. For example, in Kazakhstan, brine is injected into oil fields, but this is not an option in Uzbekistan, since there is no oil. Currently all brine is drained. It is considered not to be an environmental threat since the quantities of desalinated water are so small and very local. Moreover, there are no chemicals used in the treatment process, so the composition of the water does not really change. Except for chlorination, no chemicals are used for water treatment. There is no UV treatment, since no UV light bulbs are available in Uzbekistan, so chlorination is used instead. It should be noted that, although these local discharges of brine are of themselves not very significant, that more sustainable approaches should probably be taken in future to the disposal of brine. The brine should eventually be neutralised. Salinisation is taking place on a wide scale in Uzbekistan, as a result of incorrect irrigation practices. An indication of the role of irrigated farming in water pollution emerges from an analysis of pollution mixes and levels in the country's waterways where a significant portion of drainage water ends up1. In general, the increasing salinity of surface and groundwater due to drainage from irrigated fields is the most worrisome problem and one which significantly exacerbates the difficulties in providing clean drinking water. Elevated mineralisation levels in surface waters (based on annual averages) were discovered in the rivers Zarafshan (1.2-1.6 g/l), Amu Darya (1.2 g/l), Syr Darya (1.3 g/l) and Surhan Darya (1.2 g/l). However, the practice of discharging stronger concentrations of brine back into these systems is unlik ely to exacerbate this tendency in the longer term simply because the brine problem is almost negligible in comparison to the agricultural problems. Water Balance Issues Water balance is an issue in Uzbekistan, with the Aral Sea shrinking as it is at present. The ensuing environmental and health effects have been felt in both the main river basins, both of which have become salinised as a result. Further removal of saltwater for desalination purposes will certainly allow this trend to continue. One might ask what might be done in place of desalination of water ­ this is a difficult question to answer. Of first priority should be the dependable supply of an affordable drinking water source for the people. 7.3 National Environmental Standards National environmental standards are regulated by 107 document. The basic documents are: · Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Republic of Uzbekistan of 9 October 2000, ref. No. 389 "On problems of implementation of the Environment Protection Action Plan of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the years 1999-2005" · Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Nature Protection"; · Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan " On Water and Water Use"; · Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Ecological Expertise"; · Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan " On mines-and-carriers"; · Regulation on a state control and supervision over the use and protection of mines-and-carriers, geological research of mines-and-carriers, and rational use of mineral resources; · Regulation on the use of communal water supply and drainage systems in the Republic of Uzbekistan; and · Regulation on the State Committee on Environment Protection of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 1During the Soviet period, many agricultural chemicals were used. These have adversely affected the water quality. After Uzbekistan's independence, the use of chemicals has been reduced by 400%. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 27 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 7.4 Recommendations for Mitigation 7.4.1 Institutional and Management Mitigation The Environment Institute of Uzbekistan has branch offices in all regions, including in Karakalpakstan. The Institute is not part of a ministry, but reports directly to the Parliament, so as to guarantee independence. The Institute controls the use of all natural resources, including land, water resources, air and biological resources. With regard to water resources, the Institute states that 70% of the total population in Uzbekistan uses groundwater. There are 11 interregional aquifers, and 8 regional aquifers. The natural aquifers are considered to be special, protected areas. In the regions concerned, there is a very strict control on the use of chemicals. If there is industrial activity in the region where the aquifer is located, efforts are made to move that industrial activity. The Institute has been responsible for drawing up many environmental rules and regulations. Environmental regulation is based on the polluter pays principle. Proper enforcement of any existing environmental or water laws or regulations Environmental legislation in Uzbekistan encompasses nearly 80 laws and regulations that govern the use of natural resources and the environmental impact of economic activities. The improvement in environmental legislation should go in the following directions: · developing clear procedural and institutional rules for implementing current legislation, preventing and settling disputes on the use and protection of natural resources, and defining liabilities for violations of environmental laws; · accounting for the economic value of natural resources, implementing "user pays" and "polluter pays" principles; and creating incentives for the more efficient use and conservation of natural resources and environmental protection; · incorporating environmental issues into economic legislation (providing economic regulations with clauses on environmental protection); · improving existing environmental legislation by both developing new laws and enacting mechanisms for their implementation. While there are no specific rules for desalination projects, proper im plementation of this wide variety of environmental legislation would likely diminish many of the associated issues. Proper execution of the EIA legislation would be helpful. For any planned construction, an EIA is required. This EIA has to be approved by the Institute. Without such approval it is not possible to obtain permits and funding for a project. Projects with estimated medium and high risk are dealt with by the headquarters of the Institute. Low-risk projects are evaluated by the local branch offic es of the Institute. There is no financial limit (high or low) for projects; each project requires an EIA (in order to streamline this process, it is suggested that a "screening" process be put into place to determine which projects truly require a impact study). In any water project, environmental impacts are considered when weighing the options between transportation of water or local desalin ation. The Institute has not yet had dealings with desalination projects yet, but the documents for ten newly planned projects are expected to come in soon. Desalination is considered to have low environmental impacts (since desalination is low scale in Uzbekistan), so there are no examples of an EIA available centrally. Properly developed environmental institutions; ensuring that environmental responsibilities are not divided over too many institutions; clear mission statements regarding environment for involved institutions Each region in Uzbekistan has its own water supply organisation. These regional organisations provide management and maintenance to all local water supply systems. There are generally two organisations involved with water supply: the Vodokanal (urban water supply) and the Agrovodokanal (rural water supply). Sometimes these organisations are integrated. There is an exception to the rule ­ in some places the local water supply network is managed by the local farm. 4-28 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination (collective farm/village). The large water transportation mains in the country are managed centrally, out of Tashkent, by the "Organisation for maintenance of mains". In Karakalpakstan, the Agrovodokanal takes care of some 70% of all water supply in the region, and is the organisation which has most of the desalination infrastructure. It appears that the responsible institutions in Uzbekistan for water resources planning and water quality have some crossovers, and likely some resulting confusion and perhaps overlap of duties. Delineation of institutions' responsibilities and activities in the different fields associated with water resources management would be helpful in solving the problems associated with desalination. Further awareness-raising for water conservation Uzbekistan has already been involved in awareness-raising programmes for a number of environmental causes. Water resources conservation and management could likely use some extra attention as problems appear to be increasing in this area, and there is little incentive for water conservation, as evidenced in the country visit notes. Proper Water Resources Management In the opinion of experts who wrote the "State of Environment Uzbekistan" today's quantitative and qualitative deterioration of water resources are caused by irrational use, which necessitates the introduction of modern management systems. Today over 60% of irrigation systems require reconstruction (they are obsolete and/or neglected); this is especially true of on-farm systems. Modern technology and techniques are not being widely introduced. Channel type is still used. There is an absence of actual economic leverages, which would promote more efficient water use and increase quality water resources. An insufficient water supply and the deterioration of its quality is caused mainly by the following problems in the current system of water resources management: absenc e of an integrated approach to the management of land and water resources; inadequate metering and oversight of water consumption, especially in agriculture, where most of the water is utilised - neither industrial nor municipal consumers are sufficiently equipped with water meters; unsatisfactory control over the volume and quality of discharged water - due to incomplete data regarding the volume of discharged wastewater and pollutants in different sectors of the economy, assessments are made with unacceptable inaccuracy. The absence of reliable information impedes the development and implementation of effective water conservation and protection measures. The following are the main reasons for the inefficient use of water for irrigation: absence of incentives for water conservation; use of non-optimal irrigation technologies which do not take specific conditions into account; insufficient attention to creating special financing mechanisms for rehabilitation of in-farm irrigation and drainage systems; lack of knowledge and skills regarding the modern methods of irrigation and farming. The mitigation of these issues would go far in mitigating other issues, also related to desalination. 7.4.2 Physical Mitigation All physical mitigation should be done with care for protected areas and threatened or endangered wildlife, as in Uzbekistan's Biodiversity Conservation plan. For the purpose of water conservation Avoidance of problems associated with saltwater intrusion Aquifer protection schemes are of great importance in protecting a country's freshwater supplies. Use of drip irrigation for agriculture The State of the Environment report mentions the agricultural sector as a major water polluter. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 29 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Proper use of water, the best by drip irrigation to most effectively use water (to minimise evaporation, among other benefits) would partially prevent this. As well, proper use of chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides would prevent excessive runoff of these substances. They are quite often used in greater quantities than necessary, in the misinformed belief that more is better. Improved wastewater treatment for the existing situation Wastewater from domestic, domestic/industrial and industrial sources is already significant and not treated properly. Proper capacity for treatment should be installed immediately and reuse should be undertaken to the extent possible. Proper disposal of hazardous waste Safe disposal of hazardous waste is a necessity in Uzbekistan. Construction of engineered landfills would make a difference, also locally, in water quality. For the purpose of desalination plant mitigation Operational Energy Use and Air Quality Energy-intensiveness could be mitigated using solar energy. Solar energy is expensive and may require a larger area for the solar energy gathering and conversion devices; however, this technology would not produce toxic air emissions and would not consume exhaustible resources. With regard to the Uzbek situation, it is particularly solar energy that is relevant. Wind energy is not so easy to apply in Uzbekistan. There are many opportunities for the use of solar energy for small power stations. This means that there may be quite some potential for solar powered desalination, also since the electricity grid does not cover large remote rural areas. The disadvantage of solar desalination is that the gross consumption of power is quite high (3-4 kWh), compared to the current Photon systems of 100 watt. The Uzbek authorities are already researching this possible methodology carefully. 4-30 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 8 Future Developments In a general perspective it is clear that every region has its own problems when it comes to water supply. · Kashkadaria region has a water deficit, particularly in the Dekhkanabad rayon, where a project aimed at the construction of 70 km of water mains is underway. · In the south water is of high salinity, and no other sources are available. The Aksu river is too far away. Preliminary calculations show that desalination is 4 times cheaper then long-distance transportation of water. · Dgizak and Sirdia region have saline ground water, so also there local desalination is required. · Also the Bukhara region could be considered as an interesting region for desalination. Part of the population there hardly has access to drinking water, and water gets as saline as 25 grams/litre. (ranging from 3-25 grams). The Khorezm project is a project that is funded by KfW and which should result in a public- private-partnership between Obi Khayot and the Government of Uzbekistan. The groundwater in Khorezm region is very saline, 2-5 grams/litre. The major part of the population uses groundwater, either through wells or hand pumps. The reason that a system with domestic connections can be developed in Khoresm region is that the income in that region is relatively high. Besides Karakalpakstan, the most important region with regard to desalination, there might be potential for desalination in other regions as well. These include Navai region, Bukhara region, Fergana region and Kashkadaria region. Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 31 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination 9 References 1. California Coastal Commission. 1993. Seawater Desalination in California. Chapter Three: Potential Environmental Impacts / Coastal Act Issues. 2. The Ministry Of Macroeconomics And Statistics Of The Republic Of Uzbekistan. Rehabilitation Of Desalination Units In Republic Of Karakalpakstan 3. UNFCCC. 29 September 2003. Kyoto Protocol: Status of Ratification. 4. Website: www.grida.no/enrin/htmls/uzbek/soe2/english, addressing the State of the Environment in Uzbekistan. 5. FAO, Uzbekistan Water Resources Profile, FAO, 199? 6. WB PIU Uzbekistan, Desalination Report PIU Uzbekistan, 2003 7. State Committee on Forecasting and Statistics of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Aral Sea Program No. 5, Project No, 1. Uzbekistan Water Supply Sanitation and Health Project, Final Report, 1996 8. Binnie & Partners, Aral Sea Program 5, Project no.1, Uzbekistan Water Supply Sanitation and Health Project, Final Report, 1996 4-32 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Appendix A List of Desalination plants Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 33 Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination List of Desalination plants Uzbekistan Location Total Capacity m3/d Units Process Equipment Feature Customer Water Qual User Con.Year Plant Supplier Membrane Supplier 28800 2 MSF FLASH *Unknown FERGANA WASTE INDU 1976 USSR SU *Unknown 2400 1 RO SWM *Unknown BRACK MUNI 1992 PWT DE DOW FILMTEC US 400 1 RO SWM *Unknown UZBEKNEFTEGAS PURE INDU 1998 MEMBRANE IT KOCH FLUID S US Total 31600 4 Source: 2002 IDA Worldwide Desalting Plants Inventory No. 17, WangnickConsulting GMBH and IDA 4-34 Annex 4 - Uzbekistan Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination Annex 4 - Uzbekistan 1