Regional real estate developers and local authorities have been urged to increase support for water conservation initiatives and alternative solutions to the region’s limited water supply.

Palm Water, a leading water and wastewater utility company and a business division of Istithmar World-owned Palm Utilities, said the stakeholders must strongly commit themselves to the creation of more efficient approaches to meet water requirements across the Arab World.

The company, known for its cost-effective and environmentally friendly technologies, referred to the Water Investment World Middle East 2009 report, which revealed that the average increase in regional demand for desalinated water is at 6 per cent, 3 per cent higher than the global average.

“The MENA region maintains the lowest actual renewable water resources per capita in the world. It is thus imperative that Middle Eastern governments invest in technologies that can ensure adequate supply for the region’s vibrant industries and its more than 300 million inhabitants. Palm Utilities fully understands the gravity of the water issue and thus strongly supports initiatives to secure sustained availability throughout the region. Our company is constantly developing better and more viable methods, technologies and facilities to optimize water use in both the industrial and residential sectors,” said Dr Mahmoud Al Hindi, executive director projects, Palm Water.

The Water Investment report adds that 40 per cent of desalinated water demand in the Middle East comes from the industrial and municipal sectors. In the UAE, around 70 per cent or about 24 million cubic meters per day of the country’s water comes from desalination plants. Dubai alone has an installed desalination capacity of 188 million gallons per day (MIGD), with a total production of 58.8 MIGD.   

Saudi Arabia is presently the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, handling 30 per cent of global production.  The 30 desalination plants in the country pump almost 600 million gallons per day, meeting 70 per cent of domestic drinking water needs. The kingdom requires $53 billion to increase its desalination capacity to 10.7 million cu m per day in order to meet the projected demand by 2020.

Palm Water highlighted the immediate need to establish a major regional program for wastewater treatment and reuse that would ensure optimal management of scarce water resources to meet spiraling demand. It also emphasized that only unified efforts among governments, private organizations and the general public could ensure the success of such a programme.

Palm Water has been responsible for some of the prestigious, eco-friendly projects in the Middle East. “With our unrivalled track record of on-time delivery and operational reliability, Palm Water's projects have been recognised to be exclusive benchmarks of quality and excellence in the region, said Dr Imad Haffar, managing director.
 
“We adapt conservation, resource optimization and environmental sustainability, a fundamental component of our corporate culture,” he said. –TradeArabia News Service