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Use of Tap Water for Drinking

DUBAI — Tap water in Dubai is of the highest quality for drinking purpose but residents are guzzling bottled water, adding to the carbon and water footprint of the country. In fact, UAE residents consume bottled water to the equivalent of 16 standard swimming pools per year — more than the consumption in any other nation.

An environmental group in the emirate calls this a criminal act and is championing the cause of educating the public on the positive benefits of using tap water to reducing UAE’s carbon and water footprint.

The UAE is the world’s biggest per capita water consumer and residents indiscriminately use bottled water (275 litres per capita), straining the environment, said Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson of the Emirates Environmental Group. “Using bottled water for cleaning, washing and cooking when tap water in its highest quality is available for the public to use is a very irresponsible and criminal act,” she said.

Sales of bottled water surged by 24 per cent in 2008 in the UAE and are likely to keep rising to meet local demands, analysts have reported. However, Marashi said there is no guarantee that this (bottled) water is as safe as people claim it to be. “Bottles are made of plastic which could be harmful and in the course of their storage and transportation, there are chances of it becoming unfit,” she said.

The entire process of making bottled water available to the public extensively contributes to the carbon footprint. A report by the Earth Policy Institute (EPI) in the US warns that people’s thirst for bottled water is producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy even in areas where perfectly good drinking water is available through taps.

According to Emily Arnold, a researcher with EPI, bottled water is no healthier than tap water but it can be 10,000 times more expensive with costs including packaging and transportation. In a 2001 report of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), roughly 1.5 million tons of plastic are expended in the bottling of 89 billion litres of water each year.

The water produced by the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is desalinated and treated to international standards, making it fit for drinking. “I have always been a strong supporter of tap water and the water that is supplied by DEWA to homes is of the highest quality and standards. It is very important for the community to know that the water that reaches our taps is fit for human consumption,” said Marashi. The UAE follows the World Health Organisation’s international drinking water standards.

Although water provided by DEWA is safe to drink, it is the water distribution system that might affect the quality and push consumers towards drinking bottled water to ensure their health and safety, according to the 
Dubai Municipality.

“We work very closely with DEWA and know that they guarantee high-quality water till it reaches homes. The issue arises when the water passes through pipes that could contaminate the water. But again, the municipality is in the process of monitoring buildings and introducing new green building codes that will eliminate any worry,” said Marashi.

The municipality routinely checks tap water in schools, shopping centres, hospitals, mosques and commerc-
ial buildings.

Residential buildings are checked on request from residents. Attaching a filter to the tap will further purify the water for consumption, suggested Marashi.

Christina Marshall, a Dubai resident, said she has grown with the belief that bottled water is safer than tap water. “The water provided by the authority is fine, but it’s not suitable 
for drinking.

We do not know how far this water has been treated and how it is being transported. It can never be the first option and I only use it for boiling purposes. Though I do have a friend who drinks tap water but I make sure I do not when I visit her,” she said.

afshan@khaleejtimes.ae