Desalination measures set to tackle Cyprus’ water shortage

Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said “immediate, medium term and long term” measures are being taken to address the island’s serious water shortage on Monday.

Speaking on CyBC’s morning program, the minister said although there was a need for drastic action, options for measures which can be instantly adopted are limited.

The immediate measures involve the securing of two new mobile desalination plants to be added to the island’s existing five permanent plants, she said.

“It is important for Cyprus to proceed with purchase of its own mobile desalination units since the problem of drought will not be going away,” the minister added.

Water in the island’s reservoirs, mainly used for irrigation, now stands at a critical 27 per cent full, Water Development Department head George Kazantzis said on Sunday.

Currently the established plants are running at their maximum capacity. During the 2018 drought, Cyprus had also used additional mobile desalination as a stopgap measure, using leased units.

Tenders are to be put out to secure the two new mobile installations to go into action by 2025-2026, the minister said. Four potential sites have already been shortlisted, she added, however the demand for such units is high as the phenomenon of drought is not limited to Cyprus.

Cloud seeding, another possible option, had been discussed, Panayiotou said, adding, however, that results of this technology are as yet unreliable, and the island can’t afford a costly “hit-and-miss” approach.

The technology usually involves use of silver iodine to form ice crystals in a passing cloud system, resulting in precipitation.

Aside from the expense, issues with cloud seeding involve not being able to be precise enough in the location where the rain is made to fall, as well as unknown longer term environmental consequences of the technology, despite the fact that it is used widely by some countries in the region, notably the UAE.

Greater success has been had in “redirecting” hailstorms away from crop zones, a spokesman from the meteorological office told the CyBC.

Desalination plants are therefore seen as the island’s go-to strategy for drinking water security and two permanent desalination units are also to be acquired, Panayiotou said. Becoming 100 per cent reliant on desalinated water for drinking will free up reservoir water for irrigation, Panayiotou said, adding that currently 30 per cent of the island’s drinking water comes from this source.

Medium-term measures include introducing smart water technologies and encouraging farmers to use best practices for water conservation, the minister said.

She added that in the longer term, increasing the volume of water derived from wastewater treatment would aid the country’s primary sector.