Dubai: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has launched a new awareness campaign under the theme, ‘Every Drop Matters’, to raise awareness among Dubai residents on the need to rationalise water use by adopting environmentally friendly practices to reduce water wastage and ensure its sustainability for generations to come.
The campaign, which coincides with World Water Week which will be held in Stockholm, Sweden from August 23-28, is part of Dewa’s awareness initiatives launched to encourage all society members to use natural resources responsibly.
Saeed Mohammad Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dewa, said, “This new awareness campaign supports Dewa’s development plans and strategies to strengthen the foundations of the environmental suitability in Dubai, which supports the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to promote the sustainable and comprehensive development of Dubai. The campaign also supports the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart, integrated, and connected city whose elements are clean, healthy, and sustainable.” Al Tayer noted that the campaign stems from Dewa’s realisation of the growing importance of Dubai’s water wealth, especially in light of the ongoing fast-paced urban development. With the lack of drinking water, sources such as rivers and the challenges in groundwater extraction, Dewa provides fresh drinking water as per the highest international standards through desalination. This accounts for 99.5 per cent of water produced in Dubai.
He noted that Dewa’s installed capacity is 470 million imperial gallons of desalinated water per day.
Al Tayer noted that compared to the industrial and commercial sectors, in 2014, water consumption was highest in the residential sector, with 59 per cent of total water use. Commercial customers used 28 per cent, non-commercial buildings used 10 per cent, while industrial customers used 3 per cent.
“Dewa’s various initiatives and awareness programmes effectively contribute to supporting the national efforts to achieve a sustainable future for the residents. The efforts achieve savings in water use. Dewa managed to achieve impressive results in reducing water use over the past six years through our various campaigns, with a total saving of over 5.4 billion gallons of water. We will continue to reduce use percentages in the coming years. This will only be achieved through joint efforts and the effective participation of individuals in supporting our efforts to reduce water consumption and ensure its sustainability through responsible use,” he said.
