Priority Area 2: To conserve groundwater through integrated water resources management
Through this priority, we aim to ensure a comprehensive understanding of ground water supply and demand issues in Abu Dhabi, to strengthen the policy and legal framework for water and to take action to improve the balance between supply and demand and to mitigate related impacts.
Click here to read about how we plan to achieve these aims
Case Study: EAD has been leading a project to create a strategic water reserve for Abu Dhabi to use in the case of an emergency situation. A feasibility study, which was completed in 2002, concluded that the Liwa Groundwater Aquifer could be used as a natural reservoir if water was injected into it. In September 2002, a pilot project was activated, desalinated water was injected into the aquifer and it was found that 85% could be recovered.
Based on the success of this pilot project, EAD, in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, has now developed the design for the full scheme and construction work at the injection sites has begun. Between now and mid-2012, 17 billion litres of desalinated water will be injected into the aquifer, increasing the emergency capacity to supply Abu Dhabi’s water needs from 30 to 90 days.
Solar Desalination Project: There are currently 30 experimental solar-water desalination plants in operation in the emirate of
Abu Dhabi. Solar desalination is a zero-carbon process. It takes brackish saline water from groundwater aquifers and transforms it into fresh potable water. As well as providing invaluable information about the feasibility of using renewable energy to supply the emirate’s future water needs, the project is also helping to support one of the region’s most important conservation programmes. The Arabian Oryx, which went extinct in the wild in 1972, is being bred in captivity and reintroduced into its former habitats thanks to an innovative initiative led by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi. Many of the solar desalination plants have been placed in areas where the Arabian Oryx is being released. The plants are being used to create watering holes for the newly-introduced oryxes, as well as irrigate natural vegetation to create food and shelter for these animals. Each solar array measures 300 square metres at each site, enough to generate 45 kilowatts of electricity per hour. This powers a pump that abstracts groundwater from a well. Reverse osmosis uses pressure to separate clean water from brackish water through a semi-permeable membrane. A subsurface irrigation system then pumps the clean water to a pond. The brine, or waste-water from the process, is pumped to a separate evaporation pond. Each plant produces around 1100 gallons of clean water per hour – approximately 6,600 gallons on an average day.