Wastewater Reuse in the United Arab Emirates

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review
Evaluating the Strategies of Wastewater Recycling in UAE
Conclusion and Recommendations: Wastewater as a Valuable Resource
Works Cited

Introduction

This paper provides a consistent summary of the wastewater reuse trends in the United Arab Emirates, which influence not only the environmental protection but the politics and economy of the country as well. It is acknowledged that Arab countries get only 2 % of the world precipitation. The statistic data points out that the amount of water is insufficient for the states that occupy 10 % of the globe territory (“Water Reuse in the Arab World: From Principle to Practice” par. 1). Both surface and ground water resources are extremely scarce in the countries of the Arab world. Due to this factor, the irrigation is mostly unsuccessful in the countries of Middle East, which are known for the highly developed agricultural sector. The UAR belongs to the mentioned states as well. Consequently, the citizens of the country suffer from the marginalization of domestic agronomy. Moreover, water demands are steadily increasing, according to the enhancement of population throughout the UAR, which, subsequently, reduces the amount of water supplies per capita.

Therefore, the United Arab Emirates government is expected to take some decisive measures that would ensure the existence of long-term water delivering as well as stipulate the development of reuse and recycle technology. The primary reuse technique, which is mainly employed in the wastewater sector in the UAE, is the green space irrigation. It stems from the policy of “green paradise” that was launched by the country authority. The regulation includes the expansion of plants and, accordingly, irrigation network throughout the country (Saseendran par. 2). Despite its efficiency, the policy barely touches the problem of domestic wastewater crisis, which still deprives many citizens of the essential water supplies.

Literature Review

The list of literature entries includes some academic articles. For instance, “Balancing environmental impacts and benefits of wastewater reuse” by Hamilton, Versace and Stagnitti refers to the issue of finding a solution to the harmful influence of wastewater devices installation on a nature. “Water quality in drip irrigation” by Nakayama and Daniels reveals the benefits of water conservation as the innovative method of wastewater reuse. The article that was written by McDonnell and de Silva, “Water reuse as part of holistic water management in the United Arab Emirates,” dwells on the general specification of recycling in the UAE. Finally, the improvement of desalination process is recounted in the work “Improvement of desalination efficiency in capacitive deionization using a carbon electrode coated with an ion-exchange polymer” by Kim and Choi.

The newspaper articles “Water Management in UAE”, “Dh6 Billion to Turn Dubai into “Green Paradise” by 2025”, and “Reusing Water is not a Luxury but a Need, Says Expert” disclose the nature of irrigation and pollution eradication in the UAE.

Finally, the book that was written by Dalahmeh and Baresel, “Reclaimed wastewater use alternatives and quality standards,” shows the opposition between recycling and finding the new sources of water. Additionally, the web sources “Wastewater reuse in Arab Countries: ACWUA report” and “Water reuse in the Arab world: From principle to practice” provide the practical reports and statistics on recycling in the UAE.

Evaluating the Strategies of Wastewater Recycling in UAE

Assessing Water Demands in UAE

The reuse and recycle policy implementation is dependent on the relative estimation of sector demands, which predetermine the needs of the population. Thus, one distinguishes three primary domains that require water supplies in the UAE. These are private, agricultural, and industrial sectors. According to the general water expenditure assessment, the area of domestic water usage accounts for 24 % of public consumption in the country. The fundamental reasons for the insufficiency of water management in the household settings are the irrational employment of the resources as well as air conditioning, which stipulates the excessive usage of bottled water. Therefore, the experts differentiate few critical steps that would regulate the system of water consumption. Specifically, it is claimed that a delivery of drinkable water through the taps, as well as the introduction of some innovative irrigation techniques, could reduce the level of expenditure considerably.

The sphere of agriculture manages the biggest amount of water, due to the favorable climate conditions that exist in the country. The wastage of the valuable resource primarily refers to the issue of irrigation inefficiency. Thus, it is stated that traditional methods of inundation provoke the losses of 30 % of water, which is evaporated in the course of spray sprinkling. Consequently, the government is establishing innovative approaches, such as, for instance, drip irrigation, which could improve water management. Finally, the sector of the industry does not refer to the extensive consumers of water in the United Arab Emirates since the sphere is not entirely developed. Thus, approximately 9 % of the resource is directed to the manufacture. Water is used for the purpose of machines cleaning. Still, the wastewater that remains after the procedures can be used for irrigation (Dakkak par. 6). Therefore, in this respect, the efficient accumulation of water refers to the primary tasks of the sector management.

Water Reuse Planning

The development of a consistent recycling plan, which would be suitable for the implementation in UAE, should rely on the agricultural orientation. In other words, since the sector is the largest consumer of water resources, it is critical developing the winning strategies, which would reduce the level of expenditures. Thus, the planning should mainly target the improvement of irrigation processes and techniques.

The usage of desalination accounts for the purification of water resources. The method assists in depriving the supply of minerals and salt, which makes water usable and applicable for both human consummation and irrigation. The application of the technique in UAE yields some fruitful results. Nevertheless, the pace of desalination procedures is quite slow so that to satisfy the demands of the population. Therefore, some improvements to the system have to be made. From the technology perspective, the general performance of desalination can be improved through the application of a carbon electrode, which is cross-linked with sulfosuccinic acid. The methodology improves the coating. Therefore, the electrochemical properties of the design improve, and desalination tools become less vulnerable to damages (Kim and Choi 902).

The second issue concerns the elaboration of the actual purification quality. It is often stated that water that is cleaned through the method of desalination gets contaminated on the way through the tubes. The problem provokes the impossibility of drinking water directly from the taps. The sources of contamination come from the agents that may be found in the old cells. Since the government of the UAE does not regulate the processes of tubes cleansing, the responsibility for the contamination is imposed on the property owners, who rarely purify the cells. In fact, the cleansing of water pipes requires some particular machinery, which is not always accessible to the individual holders. Therefore, the improvement of purification should be sustained through the implementation of the new policy. Due to it, a particular service of tubes cleansing would be created. The local authorities, subsequently, would have a chance to control the accomplishment of the purification operations as well as ensure that the procedures are conducted in every six months.

After the implementation of tubes cleansing policy, the government of the UAE has to take care of the advertisement of tap water usage. Due to the statistic data, an excessive consummation of bottled water is one of the reasons for extensive completion. Therefore, making desalinated pipe water drinkable could stimulate a decline in water purchasing. The aim may be reached through the increase of prices for bottled water.

The introduction of drip irrigation is the final step on the way to water reuse in the UAR. The technique gains popularity, due to the agricultural infrastructure of the country. Drip irrigation evolved in the 1960s as a tool that might have been used exclusively for the purpose of expensive crops treatment (Nakayama and Bucks 189). Lately, however, the technology turned into a powerful farming strategy that reduces the level of water evaporation. Therefore, the UAE government should initiate an enforcement of a new law that would treat the implementation of drip irrigation devices. Furthermore, the local authorities should issue the subsidy for the individual farming institutions so that they could install the tools. Incentivizing and educating the farmers on the methods of drip irrigation belong to the primary tasks of the government as well.

Environmental and Health Implications

The reuse of wastewater stipulates a range of environmental and public health implications. Thus, it is claimed that the implementation of recycling devices often causes pollutions. Moreover, wastewater is rich in the disease-causing bacteria, which represent a direct threat to human health. Therefore, the process of water purification should target the exclusion of micropollutants as well as minimize the eutrophication of moisture content (Dalahmeh and Baresel 12).

The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests some consistent methods of health protection, which are used throughout wastewater treatment. Thus, due to the new policies of WHO, the allowable concentration of harmful microorganisms is not specified (“Wastewater Reuse in Arab Countries” par. 23). Instead, the organization offers an establishment of a new target value under the name Disability Adjusted Life Years. The measurement of the indicator provides a specification of health-risk level for various usage sectors. The strategy is beneficial since it influences a selection of irrigation methods as well as predetermines the content of drinkable water, which does not pose any threat to human health.

Finding a balance between the efficient implementation of wastewater reuse techniques and environmental impacts is the primary challenge. It is acknowledged that pathogenic microorganisms devastate the natural reserves of plants and animals. Furthermore, they damage the quality of soil, which results in the small crops growth. Therefore, it is recommended to hold water condensation and install the recycling devices in the places, which provide no direct access to the worlds of marine, flora, and fauna (Hamilton, Versace and Stagnitti 122).

The authority of the United Arab Emirates has lately taken an orientation on green space irrigation. The strategy contributes to the general improvement of the environmental conditions in urban areas. Moreover, it reduces the number of carbon emissions and offset polluting (McDonnell and de Silva 117).

Challenges and Problematic Considerations

The processes of wastewater reuse and recycling evoke a broad range of economic concerns. Naturally, the installation of technological devices, which provide purification or reuse, is quite costly and requires some substantial budget allocations.

In this context, one can differentiate the following challenges that hinder the development of active wastewater recycling in the UAE. First, the water that is used for the purpose of irrigation is, basically, poorly estimated. Nevertheless, its low price does not correspond to the real cost of wastewater reuse and cleansing. Second, the treatment of wastewater, as well as conveyance infrastructure, requires some expensive tools employment. Third, there is hardness in creating some stable material incentives for the successful reuse. Fourth, the economic analysis of wastewater recycling infrastructure is not appropriately developed in the United Arab Emirates. Finally, there are some economic and social aspects, which reduce the demand for the reused water resources.

Since the UAE is a country with highly developed agriculture, the demand for irrigation is critically high. However, water suppliers often underestimate the real value of the resource, which is received in the result of desalination. Therefore, the purified wastewater is mostly sold at cheap prices. The issue creates a budget crisis, for the results of recycling employment do not pay off. Therefore, it is crucial for the UAE authority to conduct a marketing reform so that to link the actual value of purified water to the irrigation demand.

The wastewater reuse planning design is often underdeveloped. For instance, it is hard for the farmers to differentiate a method, which would help to reduce the cost of water transportation. Therefore, the inefficiency of operational designation, as well as high prices for technical devices, leads to the quality reduce in the recycling processes (Todorova par. 6).

The problem of material incentives refers to the issue of investment. Thus, the experts acknowledge that it is hard to involve the citizens of the UAE into the active process of wastewater reuse sponsoring. Therefore, it is critical devising a system of effective advertising, which would reveal the beneficial aspects of wastewater recycling.

The lack of reuse economic analysis inflicts the underdevelopment of cost-benefit planning. In other words, the UAE economists have problems with estimating the value of wastewater maintenance and transfer. Therefore, some consistent instruction on the methods of economic assessment would provide a favorable influence on the policy realization.

According to the current statistics, the population of the United Arab Emirates tends to prefer water resource alternatives over recycling. Therefore, a successful accomplishment of wastewater reuse is impossible without providing the citizens with a powerful incentive to trust the quality of recycled water.

Conclusion and Recommendations: Wastewater as a Valuable Resource

In this work, some fundamental specifications of wastewater reuse in the United Arab Emirates are regarded. Specifically, the primary strategy of the active water recycling is suggested. It includes the improvement of desalination method as well as the employment of drip irrigation in the sector of agriculture. The work also refers to the primary economic insufficiencies of wastewater reuse and names the solutions to the concerns. Furthermore, it dwells on the environmental and public health implications, which influence the quality of recycling. Finally, it is concluded that an efficient reuse planning strategy may be developed by the UAE government if it considers the major tendencies of water use in the country.

Works Cited

Dakkak, Amir. Water Management in UAE. 2015. Web.

Dalahmeh, Sahar, and Christian Baresel. Reclaimed Wastewater Use Alternatives and Quality Standards, Sweden: Swedish University of Agriculture, 2014. Print.

Hamilton, Andrew, Vincent Versace and Frank Stagnitti. “Balancing Environmental Impacts and Benefits of Wastewater Reuse.” School of Life and Environmental Sciences 12.1 (2006): 117-130. Print.

Kim, Yu-Jin and Jae-Hwan Choi. “Improvement of Desalination Efficiency in Capacitive Deionization Using a Carbon Electrode Coated with an Ion-Exchange Polymer.” Water Research 44.3 (2010): 990-996. Print.

McDonnell, Rachael and Allegra de Silva. “Water Reuse as Part of Holistic Water Management in the United Arab Emirates.” International Case Studies 21.1 (2012): 116-119. Print.

Nakayama, Fitz and Bucks Daniels. “Water Quality in Drip Irrigation: A Review.” Irrigation Science 12.4 (2001): 187-192. Print.

Saseendran, Sajlla. Dh6 Billion to Turn Dubai into “Green Paradise” by 2025. 2014. Web.

Todorova, Vesela. Reusing Water is not a Luxury but a Need, Says Expert. 2014. Web.

Wastewater Reuse in Arab Countries: ACWUA Report 2010. Web.

Water Reuse in the Arab World: From Principle to Practice 2011. Web.

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