INVESTIGATION OF SEAWATER DESALINATION CAPABILITY IN THE SOUTH COASTAL WATERS OF IRAN

Today, the shortage of fresh water in the world has become a challenge. More than four billion people are reported to be living under water stress for at least one month of the year(Lim et al., ۲۰۲۱; Mekonnen and Hoekstra, ۲۰۱۶). The arid climate of the Middle East and climate change in most parts of Iran, which has been accompanied by reduced rainfall and declining freshwater resources, have shifted the general policies of water managers to desalination of seawater. Fortunately, Iran is a country that has access to the sea from the north and south. However, coastal waters in southern Iran have received more attention because, firstly, these waters are adjacent to the desert and arid regions of Iran, secondly, these waters lead to open ocean waters and largescale water abstraction has a great impact on water levels. In this paper, by examining the temporal and spatial distribution of seawater salinity in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, the desalination capability of these waters is investigated and suitable areas for the construction of seawater desalination technology are introduced. The physical and chemical characteristics of these two water areas have been studied by the author during the last two decades (e. g.: (Heidari et al., ۲۰۱۲; Khademi et al., ۲۰۱۷; Khalilabadi, ۲۰۲۰; KHALILABADI, ۲۰۱۶; Khalilabadi, ۲۰۱۶a, ۲۰۱۶b, ۲۰۱۶c; Khalilabadi et al., ۲۰۱۵; Khalilabadiand HASSANTABAR, ۲۰۱۶; KhalilAbadi et al., ۲۰۲۰; Mahpeykar and Khalilabadi, ۲۰۲۱; Mollaesmaeilpour et al., ۲۰۱۹a, ۲۰۱۹b)) and the author has good ideas in this field.