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July 21 (Reuters) - Iranian strikes damaged a desalination plant in Kuwait over the weekend, raising concerns in the Gulf that more of such vital infrastructure may come under fire as the conflict in the region escalates.
The Iranian military has in the past warned it would launch attacks on desalination plants and other infrastructure in the Gulf region if the U.S. follows through on threats to target its fuel and energy infrastructure.
Below are details about Gulf Arab states' reliance on desalination for their basic water needs.
HOW DEPENDENT IS THE GULF ON DESALINATION PLANTS?
• In the United Arab Emirates, desalinated water accounts for more than 80% of potable water.
• Bahrain became fully reliant on desalinated water in 2016, with 100% of groundwater reserved for contingency plans, authorities have said.
• Qatar is 100% dependent on desalinated water.
• Desalination supplies 90% of Kuwait's residential water needs.
• Oman is 86% reliant on desalination for its people's needs.
• In Saudi Arabia, a much larger nation with a greater reserve of natural groundwater, about 50% of the distributed water supply came from desalinated water as of 2023, according to the General Authority for Statistics.
• Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE combined produce around a third of the world's desalinated water and are home to many of its largest desalination plants. The six countries, which form the Gulf Cooperation Council, have a combined population estimated by the U.N. to have topped 61 million in 2025.
HOW VULNERABLE IS THE GULF?
• Desalination in the Gulf is highly concentrated, with a small number of plants producing the majority of output. Many of them are co-generation plants, meaning they also produce significant electricity for the national grid.
• The plants sit within range of missiles and drone strikes, and attacks could trigger humanitarian and economic shocks, according to the Atlantic Council.
• The consequences could be devastating, disrupting water supplies to public facilities, businesses, houses and hotels, or cascade into city-wide power outages and calls for complete evacuations, the Atlantic Council said.
• The Saudi capital Riyadh would have to evacuate within a week if the Jubail plant, its pipelines or associated power infrastructure were seriously damaged or destroyed, a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks said.
WHAT ARE COUNTRIES DOING TO PREPARE?
• To mitigate the risk of supply disruptions to the capital, the Saudi government commissioned the Riyadh Strategic Water Reservoir which in 2023 was verified by Guinness World Records as the world's largest drinking water storage facility.
• Qatar assessed several years ago that it risked running out of potable water within three days if supplies were disrupted, the prime minister said last year.
• The tiny peninsula nation — where summer temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) — in 2018 completed 15 of the world’s largest concrete drinking water reservoirs, each with a capacity of around 100 million imperial gallons, enough to fill about 180 Olympic‑size swimming pools. The project earned Qatar a Guinness World Record for the largest individual tanks and the largest such network, according to state utility firm Kahramaa.
WHO HAS MEGA-PLANTS?
• Saudi Arabia leads the desalination industry in terms of capacity, with the UAE and Israel in second and third place, respectively, according to the consultancy Blackridge.
• The largest plant is the $7.2 billion Ras Al Khair facility in Saudi Arabia, able to process 3 million cubic metres of water per day, followed by the $1 billion Jubail plant. Ras Al Khair supplies drinking water to Riyadh, home to some 8 million people, and the city of Hafr Al-Batin.
• The UAE hosts four major plants with combined cost of $5.3 billion, in Dubai's Jebel Ali industrial port, at Taweelah between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and in the emirates of Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
• The $500 million Sorek plant in Israel can process 640,000 cubic metres of water per day and contributes 20% to Israel's water demand. It is located near Tel Aviv and was built with the help of Singapore-based Hutchison Water, part of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.
• Most Saudi and UAE plants don't involve U.S. investors. The Saudi plants were built with the help of Germany's Siemens and France's Engie while UAE plants involved Spain's Acciona Energia and Belgium's BESIX Group.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Edmund Blair and Hugh Lawson)
