Abu Dhabi: On an average, every UAE resident wastes 250 litres of water per day, nearly half of their estimated daily consumption.
With each person using up to 550 litres of water daily, UAE residents have one of the highest water consumption rates in the world.
The alarming trend of water wastage prompted authorities to launch a nationwide water conservation campaign on Tuesday.
As part of the initiative, about 55,000 households, 2,750 mosques, 500 schools and 2,000 public or commercial buildings will be provided with free water-saving devices over the span of a year.
The ‘Heroes of the UAE' water campaign was jointly launched by the Emirates Wildlife Society — World Wide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF) and the Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD).
Change
"Changing the behaviour of a nation is never easy, but the good news is that we can all make simple changes in our daily habits to make a huge difference", Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, said after inaugurating the initiative.
"The daily use of 550 litres of water is phenomenal, and several times that of many other developed nations. But not only is our consumption very high, but much of it is wasted," Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, managing director of EWS-WWF, said.
The campaign, suggest three simple tips to cut usage by half.
- Avoid leaving taps running while brushing teeth, shaving or washing dishes, because they waste up to 34 litres per person per day.
- Take a five-minute shower. A long bath wastes 38 litres daily per person.
- Use a bucket and sponge to wash cars rather than a hose pipe because it wastes 180 litres per wash.
Al Mubarak said: "Without any change in lifestyle, 252 litres of water can be saved by each person."
If implemented by everyone in the UAE, these tips can save 410 billion litres of water per year, or the equivalent of 164,250 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Majid Al Mansouri, secretary-general of EAD, announced that EAD will be installing water saving devices for free in over 60,000 buildings this year.
"These water flow regulators, will reduce the emirate's water consumption by 30 per cent."
In older taps, 12 litres of water flows per minute. These devices limit water flow to about three litres per minute in mosques and six litres per minute in households.
Desalination not a good solution
Desalination is not the solution to meeting the UAE's growing water demands in the future.
"Desalination plants are not sustainable", Dr Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, said.
"Over 80 per cent of the UAE's ecological footprint is related to the consumption of carbon-intensive goods and services. Almost 100 per cent of the UAE's drinking water comes from the desalination of sea water which relies on burning gas in our co-generation power plants, that are responsible for 36 percent of carbon emissions."
Desalination plants create environmental problems apart from involving huge building costs.
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