Water saving devices to be installed in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi residents are reported to use 550 litres of water per day

Some 55,000 homes and 5,000 public buildings in Abu Dhabi will be fitted with a water saving device in a bid to reduce the emirate's water consumption.

More than 300 mosques have already been fitted with the gadget, which can cut the flow of water from 12 litres a minute to three litres, according to a report in the National.

The UAE has one of the highest per-capita water-consumption rates in the world and the reliance on desalination plants means the country has a large carbon footprint to match.

Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) figures estimate each resident uses an average of 550 litres of water per day, compared to people living in Jordan who use just 85 litres a day. Residents in the US, a country with far greater water resources, use 485 litres a day, the paper reported.

This average useage figure accounts for only 40 percent of Abu Dhabi’s total water consumption, and does not include water used for agriculture and landscaping, Majid al Mansouri, the EAD’s secretary general, told the paper.

The plan to retrofit 60,000 buildings with water-saving devices “is a dramatic change which will affect the whole water cycle,” Dr Mohammed Dawoud, the manager of the water-resources department at the EAD, told the paper.

The plan will not only conserve water at the tap but also energy and costs involved in the desalination process.

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