Dubai: Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of State and Chairman of the Board of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA), has stressed that the UAE is constantly striving to achieve the highest standards of sustainability in water security and balance and demand between water sources, especially while suffering from scarcity as a result of limited natural fresh water supplies, reduced average rainfall and high temperatures.
In his speech, on the occasion of World Water Day on March 22, he said that ESMA realises the difficulty of the issue of drinking water supply levels and its production in the country. He added that its primary concern is with applying best international practices that relate to organising the industry of producing water that is sold in local markets.
He further added that this year's International Water Day focuses its attention on the sixth goal from its Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to guarantee the sustainable management of water and its widespread availability by 2030, including a goal to reduce the level of untreated wastewater and increase water recycling and its safe re-use. The UAE has, therefore, taken advanced steps, especially in light of ESMA's innovation that relates to the bottling of drinking water around four years ago, and its effect of reducing the level of untreated wastewater.
Bin Fahd stated that the UAE is in third place worldwide, in terms of projects that relate to water desalination, and its long-term work to apply the best international practices in desalting systems, and its transfer and storage, as well as marketing.
He concluded by saying that water is limited, not just in the UAE but also the whole world, and we live in one ecosystem. All government and private authorities must therefore co-operate in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development, as international indicators warn that over 80 percent of wastewater used by various communities return to the ecosystem without treatment, and by reusing water during a time of increasing opportunities to re-utilise this kind of water and transform it into a resource that can be managed correctly.
