Qatar successful in ensuring drinking water availability and sanitation, Kahramaa chief

Qatar has achieved the indicators of SDG 6 while ensuring the availability of drinking water and sanitation for all, president of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) president Eng. Issa bin Hilal al-Kuwari has said. While delivering the opening speech at the 15th Gulf Water Conference on Sunday, al-Kuwari noted that this was achieved by leveraging the latest technology in water desalination plants including reverse osmosis technology. "This helps the production of approximately 30 per cent of Qatar's desalinated water while significantly improving water use efficiency,” al-Kuwari said.He said Kahramaa is implementing a slew of measures to ensure sustainability in water consumption noting that 75% of the waste water is used for irrigation, agriculture, cooling and other purposes while sticking to the efficiency standards. Through the National Programme for Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed), al-Kuwari said, awareness about the rational use of water is raised and regulations are applied.Al-Kuwari, who noted that water scarcity poses a threat to the world, said roughly 2.5 per cent of earth's water is drinkable at a time when groundwater water, the largest freshwater source, is overused and depleted. While drawing attention towards the climate change impact al-Kuwari noted about 4 bn people across the world live in areas hit by water scarcity, with UNESCO expecting that global demand for freshwater would surpass the supply by 40 per cent by 2030. "Climate change impacts including rising sea levels, changing rainfall patterns, and intensifying water cycle, lead to floods and droughts and exacerbate the global water security. Lack of international water policies and measures to ensure water sustainability and expand water treatment projects using green technology leaves the crisis worse,” he said.Eng Abdelrahman Mohamed al-Mahmoud, chairperson of Board of Directors, Water Sciences and Technology Association (WSTA) said GCC states are pioneering in keeping up the technological advancements and utilizing the innovative technology appropriate for promoting the levels of water production in terms of water quality and rationalised consumption of water.Dr Mahmoud Abu-Zeid, president of Arab Water Council (AWC) said the conference themes will be able to discuss topics of integrated water resources management, including the expansion of the use of non-traditional water resources, developing water conservation and improving its quality.Eng Khaldon Khashman, general secretary, Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) and Dr Hammou Laamrani from United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) also addressed the opening ceremony.The opening ceremony marked the honouring of the dignitaries.Under the theme ‘Gulf Water: Embracing Technological Progress’, the three-day conference discusses integrated water resources management, desalination sector management, surface water and groundwater management, wastewater management (treatment and reuse), domestic water management and agricultural water management. The conference features 20 speakers and several sessions.