Dubai: The steep price tag of desalinated water, which is also not environmentally viable, should prompt exploration of other ways of producing drinking water, said a Dubai-based environment group.
Desalination is a high-cost solution to meet water demands, both in financial and environmental terms, said Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson of the Emirates Environment Group (EEG). It is an expensive process that relies on power from fossil fuel and also gives off emissions, she said at a recent community meeting held to create awareness on the benefits of recycling water.
Water availability in the UAE will hit a catastrophical low by 2025 and the next 10 years have been dubbed as the International Decade of Action for Water for Life by the United Nations.
During the seminar on 'Waste water, the environment's neglected wealth', Al Marashi said: "Every drop of water here in the desert is worth its weight in gold."
Experts from the Sharjah-based company Metito, which deals with water treatment, water desalination, sewage treatment, and water disinfection among other forms of water treatment, said tighter regulations for unrestricted irrigation are needed.
Sanitation
They added that over 1 billion people live without adequate access to safe drinking water and more than 2 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation.
Rami Ghandour, executive director of corporate strategy and investments from Metito and Mahmoud Kabeel, plant sales manager for Dubai, the Northern Emirates and Oman, gave a joint presentation.
In the Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, only one per cent of freshwater is accessible to five per cent of the world population.
In 2000, the Mena region was on the water poverty line, which is 1,000 cubic metres per capita per year and Metito predict that in 2050 this could worsen to 500 cubic metres per person annually.
Benefits of reuse
Reused water can be used for drinking, industrial use in refineries and petrochemicals, textiles, paper mills, in agriculture and has municipal uses in road and car washing.
The experts from Sharjah highlighted the recent residential projects in Dubai as instances of using water recycling system.
An example of successful waste water reuse is in Singapore where sewage water has been intensively treated to produce high quality drinking water. |
