Dubai: A campaign urging residents to use less than 110 gallons of water a day through stickers and posters will begin this month, as officials warned that water usage in the UAE is very high.
The "Be Water Wise" campaign, by cosmetics outlet The Body Shop, Dubai Municipality and Dewa, will begin tomorrow, Earth Day. The Body Shop will distribute stickers and guides on how to use less water and provide posters to schools to raise awareness on water consumption.
UAE residents use about 110 gallons of water on an average daily, more than anywhere else in the world, even though the country lies in one of the world's driest regions, said Aisha Al Abdooli, head of the operations department for the sewage treatment plant at Dubai Municipality.
Residents Gulf News spoke to agreed that too much water is used and emphasised that awareness is the key to curb the habit. They said people are careless in using water, and called on the authorities to address water wastage.
Al Abdooli said high water usage has also caused overloading at Dubai's sewage treatment plant by "more than 40 per cent". Currently, Dubai residents produce 70 million gallons of sewage every day, enough to fill the World Trade Center building almost twice daily. While officials said they had not set a target of water to be saved throughout the campaign, initiating awareness was important, they said.
