SEATTLE — Water quality in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered to be one of the best in

the world. However, the Gulf federation of seven emirates is not only among the top countries in
the world with problems of water shortages, but also has one of the world’s highest per capita water
consumption, which reaches about 550 liters per day.

UAE is a well-known tourist attraction with a long sea coast and sandy beaches. Despite strict
government regulations regarding air pollution, the management of domestic, commercial and
industrial waste and oil spills from ships, the drinking water quality in the United Arab Emirates is
overshadowed by many instances of water pollution.

To its credit, the government has imposed fines and penalties for littering beaches and held
nationwide clean-up and public awareness campaigns. Institutions such as the Abu Dhabi
Environment Agency have been tasked with collecting and analyzing seawater and sediment
samples from coastal areas close to industrial areas. The recycling of bottles and the reuse of plastic
waste have also been encouraged by local municipalities.

Groundwater accounts for almost half of the total used water resources in the United Arab Emirates.
The country is reported to have used its groundwater reserves 20 times faster than they can be
recharged. In a study by UAE University, scientists have warned that the groundwater supply could
run out by 2030 due to use by the agricultural sector, which is the largest water consumer in the
country.

Nicholas Lodge, a managing partner at Clarity, an agriculture consultancy in Abu Dhabi, stated that
the future shortage of groundwater reserves came as no surprise.

“Water security is intrinsically linked to food security, and the UAE and other countries with similar
climate and natural water resources have an already acute shortage and can only expect things to
get worse,” he said. “The usage of water in agriculture is a matter of national importance and really
significant reduction will be necessary – something the government is taking steps to implement.”

In addressing water quality in the United Arab Emirates, a sharp drop in water levels of freshwater
aquifers and saltwater intrusion into these aquifers have been the two major environmental issues.
High evaporation rates and heavy chemical applications also contribute to water pollution.
Desalination plants have been constructed to address water shortage and supply issues. However,
these plants consume large amounts of energy and are costly to build and maintain. Noise pollution,
the risk of penetrating inland aquifers and adverse effects on marine life when discharging brine
back into the sea are all negative effects associated with desalination plants.
Most people in the UAE believe that tap water is unsafe for consumption and rely on bottled water
instead. These residents also do not view desalinated water (such as the treated water from
desalination plants) to be fit for regular drinking. Mineral imbalances, water storage tank sanitation
and doubts about the cleanliness of seawater sources contribute to negative perceptions about
produced potable water. The UAE government, however, disputes that the country’s waters are
polluted.

Furthermore, the threat of climate change and global warming are expected to increase sea levels
and cause further saline intrusion in the country’s groundwater tables. Rainfall precipitation levels
and the introduction of invasive species competing with animal life for scarce water resources are
also growing concerns.

There are signs that UAE is taking important steps to address the country’s impending water crisis.
For example, the local utility in the third largest city of Sharjah, Sharjah Electricity and Water
Authority (SEWA), has begun using smart water storage tanks and utility tracking software to
manage and monitor water quality and consumption. In the next five years, SEWA ambitiously aims
to increase the availability of freshwater from 50 million gallons to 500 million gallons per day.

In order to reclaim its water resources, UAE needs to move beyond temporary strategies such as
towing in icebergs from Antarctica. A typical Emirati uses 550 liters of water per day, which is more
than 80 percent higher than the average person in the world. Farming and agricultural use also
greatly stresses the water resources. The usage of water in sustainable ways and improving water
quality in the United Arab Emirates depends upon modern technologies to reprocess wastewater.
Educating citizens on efficient water usage and making desalination plants less environmentally
damaging are just some ways the country can preserve its precious water resources for generations
to come.

Background

Remarkably for an arid country, per capita water use in the UAE is three times higher than the global
average. While the nation’s ability to provide this abundance of water through large supply
infrastructure and desalinization systems is an impressive technical achievement, it is also very
expensive and unsustainable. To build awareness and a culture of water saving, this
multigenerational EDM project engaged the up and coming generation to lead the way as agents
for change in their households and communities.

In its first phase, it developed a series of creative and effective educational programs on sustainable
water and energy consumption and the impacts of climate change that engaged 2,000 students and
their teachers in 215 schools and 64 colleges. It further worked to instill good water conservation
practices, responsible management of energy resources and climate informed action through public
campaigns and diverse activities reaching nearly 10,000 people with civil society, decision makers,
as well as the public and private sectors, including 200 companies. The second phase of the project
built upon this momentum through a series of student (targeting young persons aged 10-22) and
teacher workshops; public speaking and drawing competitions; and public events that attracted the
participation of more than 100 schools and 125 organizations. As a result, hundreds of students
vowed to be vocal advocates in their communities for water conservation and environmental
protection, activating a commitment that will last a lifetime.

Outputs

Delivered educational workshops and outreach activities on environmental sustainability for 2,000
students and their teachers in 215 schools and 64 colleges

Initiated student competitions on environmental public speaking and drawing

Engaged more than 200 companies through participation in exhibitions and in-house events to
promote water and environmental sustainability

Advocated water conservation to nearly 10,000 people through community lectures, public events
and social media

Educated children to be agents for change for water conservation in their homes

Provided tailored workshops to nearly 600 students and 100 teachers on water stewardship and
climate change

Arranged drawing and public speaking competitions with more than 900 students

Engaged 125 public and business organizations to improve water management

29JUN2017
Water Quality in the United Arab Emirates

Known for having one of the largest oil reserves in the world, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) currently
faces daunting issues with its water. Water availability and water quality in the United Arab Emirates are
both areas of concern.

Because of the country’s extremely arid landscapes, water scarcity is a crucial issue, especially since the
country has one of the highest rates of consumption of water per capita at 550 liters a day. The scarcity
of groundwater coupled with the limited and expensive processing and treatment of existing water
creates a challenging situation for the UAE. With so little water available in the area, water becomes a
commodity that some predict will eventually become more expensive than oil.
The water crisis in the United Arab Emirates is a growing concern for government officials. One company
even proposed a plan to bring icebergs all the way from Antarctica to the coast in order to deal with the
water scarcity. Others focus on desalination plants as a solution, but desalination is an expensive and
energy-intensive process. There are also risks of negative environmental impacts on the coast, and the
water that these plants produce has a higher risk of oil pollution.

Two main sectors are responsible for most of the water consumption in the UAE: the private sector
and the agricultural sector. The approach that these sectors take when dealing with water scarcity
will be crucial to how the country deals with the water crisis.

The private sector consumes about 24 percent of the UAE’s water. In such a brutally hot climate,
much of the water used in private homes is because of air conditioning units, but the most important
use of water is drinking water. Due to concerns about water quality in the United Arab Emirates, many
people prefer to drink bottled water. Because it takes about three liters of water to make one liter of
bottled water, the prevalence of bottled water greatly inflates water use on an individual level.

Contaminated water is not an imagined problem for UAE households, so it is understandable why so
many choose to drink bottled water. Private water can be contaminated by old and rusty pipes filled
with bacteria, and because water is often stored in tanks, there is a risk of contamination by foreign
objects such as animals, insects, and metals. Since the UAE has no law to enforce the replacement
of pipes or the cleaning of such tanks, water contamination is a possibility.

Despite these risks of water contamination, the water quality in the United Arab Emirates is adequate,
and most experts maintain that this sort of contamination is very unlikely. In an effort to reduce
unnecessary water use, many people advocate against the overuse of bottled water. They teach that
bottled water and filtered tap water are almost exactly the same in quality and taste, yet there is a
prevailing attitude that the water is dangerous to use or drink. The water quality is blamed for problems
such as dry skin, premature aging and hair loss.

Advocates against the dependence on bottled water also warn that bottled water might have its own
harmful consequences, such as the presence of fluoride, a substance still under scrutiny, and BPA,
an industrial chemical that may have negative health effects on the brain and blood pressure. The
environmental impact is important to consider as well since most people use the bottle once and
throw it away, leading to a large amount of unnecessary and expensive waste. Even with these
concerns in mind, many UAE citizens continue to rely on bottled water.

Though the private sector has a great deal of influence on the water availability crisis, the agricultural
sector has the biggest impact and is the largest consumer of water. The agriculture sector consumes
nearly two-thirds of the nation’s water. Due to the continually growing population of the UAE, there
was a recent surge in demand for food, causing the UAE’s agricultural sector to have a higher demand
than ever.
The agriculture industry is attempting to move away from water-intensive crops and introduce drip
irrigation, and people continue to search for ways to reduce the excessive use of water in agriculture.
Some have suggested an improved system of collecting and treating wastewater to use for
agriculture. Wastewater processing plants are cheaper than desalination plants in part because they
make use of the water already present in the system rather than relying on extracting water from the
surrounding environment, but these solutions have yet to be put in place.

There are many possible ways for the UAE to address the water crisis, but along with the various
proposed solutions, education about the crisis is an important step along the way. The water quality
in the United Arab Emirates is only a part of the problem; the water crisis is a long-term problem that
is likely to have profound impacts for decades to come. Therefore, the continued education about
water scarcity and responsible water use is crucial to further efforts of reducing water consumption
and working to end the water crisis.

Water Pollution in UAE

Though a desert region, UAE has a long sea coast with sandy beaches. There negligible rain water
contamination in UAE as air pollution is controlled with strict regulations and monitoring of vehicles and
industries. Sewage and Waste Treatment plants duly take care of waste from homes and commercial
areas. Industrial waste is also managed and treated according to regulations. Oil spills from ships etc and
Eutrophication through farming is also monitored and controlled adequately. Furthermore, the
government exercises a strict control on the quality of drinking water.

However there are still instances of water pollution that come to light and these are promptly dealt with.

UAE coasts are rife with mangroves. There have been various instances of these mangroves being
polluted with litter. The same was the case with some public beeches. This is being controlled through
imposing fines and penalties, as also through nation-wide clean up and awareness campaigns to educate
the masses.

Late in 2016, scientists at UAE University had discovered that some metals were several times more
common in water samples collected from coastal areas close to Mussaffah Industrial area, as compared
with those taken from farther away. This indicated some industrial effluent discharge. To combat such
cases, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency (EAD) collects and tests seawater and sediment samples on a
monthly basis from industrial areas as well as public beaches.
Plastic junk is littering the UAE's waters and killing its marine life. Aluminium cans, plastic bottles and
paper plates are also a familiar sight on sea beaches. "For a lot of people, they see that the sea looks clean
on the surface, but the debris is actually underwater, where it has the most negative impact," as quoted
by Kathleen Russell, committee coordinator for Emirates Diving Association (EDA). Ms. Russel has been
working with the Abu Dhabi's environment agency (EAD) for the last decade to bring awareness about
marine litter - a problem she described as being emirate-wide. Together, they have held several
underwater clean-up campaigns. "Taking divers down and doing clean-ups reiterates why we need to be
responsible for our actions and really identify where the debris is coming from," she said in a report in
The National.

Plastic junk is littering the UAE's waters and killing its marine life. Aluminium cans, plastic bottles and
paper plates are also a familiar sight on sea beaches. "For a lot of people, they see that the sea looks clean
on the surface, but the debris is actually underwater, where it has the most negative impact," as quoted
by Kathleen Russell, committee coordinator for Emirates Diving Association (EDA). Ms. Russel has been
working with the Abu Dhabi's environment agency (EAD) for the last decade to bring awareness about
marine litter - a problem she described as being emirate-wide. Together, they have held several
underwater clean-up campaigns. "Taking divers down and doing clean-ups reiterates why we need to be
responsible for our actions and really identify where the debris is coming from," she said in a report in
The National.

Plastic pollution is also a cause of frequent concern causing damage to fish from tiny pieces of plastic
pollution clogging the oceans. Micro-plastic particles measuring no more than 5mm come from large
plastic waste that has fragmented into smaller pieces or from manufactured plastics of microscopic size,
such as micro-beads in products such as facial soap and toothpaste. The UAE government has employed
various sewage and waste water treatment plants. However the micro-beads are small enough to pass
through municipality filtration systems. These petrochemical beads are ingested by marine life causing,
more so if they are micro-plastics. They can then end up on our plates when we eat seafood.

USA, UK and Canada have regulations with respect of use of micro-beads in consumer products, but UAE
as yet has no legislation governing the use of micro-beads.

According to researchers, physical deformities found in sharks common to the waters off Abu Dhabi
could be an indicator of increased pollution in the Arabian Gulf. According to a report in The National, Dr
Alec Moore, Indian Ocean vice chairman of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group, said that while abnormalities
naturally occur, they also raised questions. "Even without humans around, the Gulf is naturally a
biologically stressful environment because of high temperature and salinity. It is possible that further
increases – from climate change, the daily discharges from desalination plants, and the reduction of
freshwater river flow – could be biologically harmful," he said.

The National had also reported that human activities and pollution are compromising efforts being made
to protect and conserve Gulf coastal areas. A report has indicated that despite there being 173 marine
protected areas in the Gulf, many are ineffective and offer little protection to the endangered species.
Such findings have lead scientists to warn against the disappearance of coral reefs in our lifetime unless
action is taken soon. The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) plans to increase the percentage of
protected marine areas in the capital to 14 per cent by 2019, in attempts to combat depleting natural
habitats and species.

UAE is promoting reduced use of plastic by promoting reusable bags and also by encouraging recycling
of bottles and other plastic items. Besides controlling plastic waste, the municipality also acts to halt
practice of washing harmful chemicals directing down drain "Most of the illegal discharge of oil that seeps
into the sea through sewerage happens at auto workshops, when mechanics carry out oil changes, do not
clean up the area properly afterwards, and then drain the residue into drains and manholes," said Khalid
Sulaiteen, head of the Environmental Emergency Office (EEO) at Dubai Municipality, according to a
report published in Gulf News. Such Illegal car workshops which pump oil into Dubai Creek are being
targeted in a municipality crackdown. EEO is the task force behind cleaning up the city's Creek and
beaches, which are at times contaminated with oil, chemicals, and solid waste, in addition to
contaminants discharged from dhows (Small Arabian Boats) and their engines. The municipality has
clear-cut guidelines on how to dump industrial waste and any violators are reprimanded.

Efforts are also on to ensure that kitchen oil from homes and restaurants is not thrown in drains. It is
being converted into biodiesel. My school was also involved in a campaign that collected