Dubai: A bus depot in Dubai has been saving 900,000 gallons of water monthly, thanks to recycling wastewater, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Wednesday.
Marwan Al Zarooni, director of maintenance and services at RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “The recycling rate of waste water at Al Rawiyya Bus Depot has reached 100 per cent, which is massive considering the amount of water consumed by the station annually amounting to 12 million gallons in 2020. The depot saved 90 per cent of its monthly water consumption bill dropping from 1 million to 100,000 gallons per month.”
Protection of the environment
Al Zarooni added: “The plant treated about 5.8 million gallons of water and used it to irrigate the landscaped area of the depot, which has become a model of biodiversity and the protection of the environment from emissions. It has also significantly reduced the costs of purchasing and transporting water, which led to the recovery of the project costs in the first year of operation. It also contributed to reducing carbon emissions by more than 160 tons during the first 6 months of the trial operation of the station.”
Al Zarooni said: “Wastewater and its disposal are one of the key challenges facing the industrial and housing sectors. This water contains many pollutants, which can often be dangerous, such as heavy metals and harmful bacteria, salts that contribute significantly to salinising the soil and increasing its alkalinity, rendering it unsuitable for agriculture.”
RTA said the success of the plant in recycling water has automatically addressed the challenge of the lack of green places in the plant caused by the lack of water and tree planting in the area, by providing surplus treated water to irrigate the landscaped areas
RTA added its Public Transport Agency is implementing more than 32 initiatives in conserving energy, reducing water consumption, and curbing harmful carbon emissions.
