COST COMPARISON IN WATER SUPPLY ALTERNATIVES IN SAUDI ARABIA.

No economic studies have so far been conducted on the cost comparison of water supply alternatives for Saudi Arabia. Of the available alternatives, the study reported in this paper considered only desalination processes and potential use of iceberg utilization. The major objectives of this study were: to develop a cost model relating water cost with the system capacity and efficiency of removal of hardness and total dissolved solid; to establish cost-capacity relationships for various desalination processes; and to evaluate the use of icebergs as potential fresh water resource.