Water Conservation

Turn on the faucet, the shower or the sprinkler; switch on the laundry machine or the dishwasher; flush the WC. And hear the unfailing gush of water. Look all around us and marvel at the verdure; the green golf courses, parks, and gardens of the affluent; at aquamarine swimming pools and water parks. Do we believe that we are in a harsh desert environment bereft of perennial rivers and lakes? Where the only renewable freshwater, in limited quantities, is underground, in shallow aquifers? It's difficult. We may have to venture on a safari amidst the dunes to believe it.

The water made so readily available to us is desalinated water from the ocean. The UAE, after Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, is the third largest producer of desalinated water in the world; water that is made fit for human use by removing dissolved salts from it. The two most widely used methods for this are distillation and reverse osmosis. In the first, salt water is heated until it evaporates and condenses as freshwater, leaving salts behind in a solid form. The second entails pumping salt water at high pressure through a thin membrane whose pores allow water molecules to pass through, but not dissolved salts.

The desalination process uses up huge amounts of electricity. Drawing the water up and distributing it from coastal desalination plants to destinations inland utilises even greater energy. Desalinated water is, therefore, at a premium, costing 3-5 times more than that obtained from conventional sources such as rivers, lakes and aquifers. Its environmental cost too is considerable - in terms of energy used, pollution emissions from the energy generation process and, in terms of the concentrated brine produced. Brine that, when dumped into the ocean, increases the local salt concentration and threatens the biological resources of the coastal waters; and when dumped on land, percolates and contaminates groundwater. Add to these, the volumes of post-consumer wastewater generated and the cost of treating it.

These are some facts we need to remember when we turn on that faucet, that shower or that sprinkler; switch on that laundry machine or that dishwasher; flush that WC. And hear that unfailing gush of water!

All of Dubai's water supply, and three-fourths of Abu Dhabi's, is desalinated. Treated sewage in Dubai and, to some extent, in Abu Dhabi meets landscaping and industrial requirements; while both groundwater and desalinated water are used for agriculture in Abu Dhabi. In the UAE on the whole, most water withdrawals are for agriculture and landscaping (64%), followed by domestic requirements (34%) and industrial use (2%).

Now for some sobering particulars. Human water consumption in the Emirates, including that for domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses is very high - 500 litres per capita per day - and rising. About 40-45% of the country's total water production is used by Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate. The background: to begin with, an arid environment; next, a steady population growth; then, high living standards commensurate with an ever- increasing natural resources consumption; the excessive extraction and near-exhaustion of natural water resources (groundwater); the resultant dependence on costly, non-traditional sources of water such as desalination and recycled waste water; and finally, continued escalation in the demand for water, which, recent research indicates, may reach 700 litres per capita per year in the coming years. Increasing water demand means a greater volume of wastewater requiring treatment.

A 1996 United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study on major environmental concerns in West Asia reveals: based on current trends, water shortage is expected as a result of greater demand and limited renewable supplies; water losses in the network and water-demanding, intensive agriculture under arid conditions compound the problem; and that current water resources such as renewable ground water, desalination, and reclaimed wastewater are insufficient to meet the expected demand.

The forecast for the future, therefore, is disturbing. A 1999 study, Water Scarcity in the Twenty-First Century, by the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute, indicates those 17 countries in the Middle East and southern Africa that will face ''absolute water scarcity'' and will not be able to meet water needs in the year 2025. The UAE is one of them, as are Oman, Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Rarely does a day go by without mention, in the media, of the impending ''severe water stress.'' About Arab countries having to grapple with serious water shortages in the coming two decades. About a warning that the next Middle East war would be over water. About the urgent need to reduce demand and carry on a sustained campaign to educate people on the prudent use of water, the elixir of life, for which there is no substitute.

There is nation-wide concern. A number of water conservation issues are being considered. Water pricing (a study says that this would potentially reduce public consumption by about 20%), augmenting wastewater treatment, finding new groundwater sources and, for that matter, alternative water sources such as air and fog, are some. Reducing and eliminating incidents of leakage, looking at modern conservation techniques as well as new desalination technologies, are others. Contingency planning for emergencies is being emphasised. What if desalination plants are forced to shut down for some reason, say, a power breakdown, or an oil spill (remember how two desalination plants had to suspend operations in January 1998 because of a major diesel oil spill off Ajman)? Or what if there is a breakdown of any sort? A chilling thought!

Clearly, water conservation is a need of the day. With care, there needn't be a crisis of the sort predicted. There are policy and planning issues that can only be addressed by the decision-makers. But all citizens have a part to play in curbing waste. As Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, general manager, DEWA, pointed out at the water conservation exhibition in Dubai in March this year, ''..the consumers of different categories play a major role in water conservation by altering their habits in water use.''

Water, water everywhere but nary a drop to waste!

In a typical U.S. home, flushing toilets, washing hands and bathing account for about 78% of the water used. In a typical U.K. home, flushing toilets and bathing account for about 50% of the water used. We can estimate that in a typical UAE home, water consumed for flushing toilets and bathing account for, say, 65% of the total used. What if the water from washbasins, baths and showers (referred to as gray water) could be collected, recycled and filtered right in your own home, and used for flushing WCs? Also used for watering the garden, washing the car or general cleaning? In fact, any application where fresh water is not essential? Now that would mean an enormous saving in both water and money. The Aquasaver system, now available in the UAE, does exactly that. Ideal for installation in individual homes, apartments and hotels, particularly new constructions and refurbishment situations, the system works like this: A safe, low voltage pumped circuit is connected to the waste pipes of baths, shower trays, wash basins and whatever else. Water is drawn off, passes through a series of filters which effectively removes soap, detergents and other impurities before passing it into a holding tank. The collected water undergoes further filtration before being subjected to a non-hazardous cleaning agent and cleansing by means of a carbon filter. It is now ready for reuse in the WC, the garden, washing the car, the grounds…. By reusing supplies, Aquasaver can significantly reduce the consumption of fresh, metered water - which has been paid for - and which would normally run out as wastewater. The Aquasaver system, which is in use in parts of the U.K., has proved to save over 50% of the annual water consumption of a domestic household and would be expected to achieve savings of up to 40% when applied to the commercial or hotel industry. Since the system is totally independent of mains water supply, cross-contamination between drinking and recycled water is not possible. This clever water-conserving device is the brainchild of Cornwall-based Michael John Burton, an electrical engineer. The Aquasaver system sounds ecologically sound, environmentally friendly and economically sensible, doesn't it?

WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO? Practice Earthsense

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