UAE residents offered cheap wastewater option to irrigate gardens

DUBAI // The emirate took another step towards saving precious water reserves on Tuesday after the Government announced it would offer residents treated wastewater for a small monthly fee.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and chairman of Dubai Municipality, issued a directive on the use of treated wastewater to irrigate non-food crops in residential plots, including villas. For two-and-a-half fils per square metre, homeowners will be able to irrigate their gardens.

“It’s a great idea,” said Mansour Ibrahim Mansour, former director of agricultural development at the Ministry of Environment and Water.

“We all know the situation in the UAE, which is water shortage and lack of rainfall, so this water is needed to cover such practices.

“It won’t apply to vegetables as the water would need to be more treated, but it’s a good initiative and there are currently many studies on water savings in the UAE, so this will help.”

The directive will encourage homeowners who have gardens to invest in to cultivate their space at a very low cost.

“This will contribute to increasing agriculture in Dubai,” said Talib Julfar, the municipality’s director of drainage and irrigation. “It will reduce the city’s carbon footprint and improve the environment.”

Hoda Jaffal, agricultural engineer at Al Yousuf Agriculture and Landscaping, said: “It’s a good idea as they will firstly save a lot of water, which is a big concern here,” she said.

“The UAE isn’t rich in water but this is a good price they are offering residents so it will definitely encourage them to grow their own crops at home.”

The water will be recycled through a filtration process before it is used to irrigate gardens.

“Not all crops can survive with treated wastewater,” Ms Jaffal said. “If it is treated properly, then it will be OK for plants. There is a scientific way to treat it and we don’t use it everywhere because some chemicals are concentrated in a high percentage, so it might block our filters or our pipes. But if the Government is providing it, then it’s a good solution.”

In 2013, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi treated up to 27 million litres of water a day to a high-enough standard for agricultural use. The water was used on 220 farms across the emirate.