UAE is one of the world’s highest consumers of water which has an average consumption of 600 litres per person per day! How does this country cope up with its water demands? Read on to know the answer.
The answer
As UAE is a country with vast expanses of Deserts and very fewer water sources, UAE gets most of its water from its oceans. It may sound unreal but with the advances in modern technology and with material science, scientists have come up with ways of removing salt from seawater and making it safe for consumption.
Desalination
Desalination is the scientific term that is used to describe the process of turning brine into the consumable water. It is an intricate process where the sea water is pumped under extreme pressure into tubes with filters that are designed to separate salt particles from water. Then the water is chemically treated, purified again and are supplied to the cities across UAE.
The world’s largest desalinated water reserve
Yes, it is in UAE! This was built in as a failsafe in case of a crisis or an emergency. The gigantic water reserve has been built in under the Liwa Desert, at the southern edge of the country it is located about 160 km away from the desalination plants from the coast and it contains about 26 billion litres of water which needs 26 months to fill up.
Advantages of the reserve
UAE entirely relies on desalinated water The country having a thriving tourism industry, resorts like the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara which is a Liwa desert resortlocated far from any immediate water resources, are greatly benefitted by the desalination plants and can even be backed by the reserve if something goes wrong with the water supply.
Fritzjames Stephen is a travel writer, who writes content based on the myriad of experiences and indulgences that the world has to offer travellers across all walks of life. Google+
