Kuwait Times

Published Date: March 24, 2008
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: The Minister of Electricity and Water has made preparations to ensure that the country does not face a water crisis this summer. "We do not expect either a water or electricity shortage. So don't worry this summer," noted Mohammad Al-Olaim, Minister of Electricity and Water and acting Oil Minister yesterday.

March 22 was the World Water Day and the Minister celebrated this occasion at his premises. Different departments such as the Ministry of Public works, Kuwait Institution for Scientific Researches (KISR), Ministry of Education, and Kuwait Engineers Association participated in the event.

Young female students also attended the event. They sang the 'Tarsheed' (campaign to save water and electricity) songs, and drew some pictures related to it.

In his opening speech the minister said, "It is an important issue that needs much thought and research so that we can manage and exploit our water resources well, in the future.

The demand for drinking water is increasing every year. "The slogan of this year's World Water Day expresses the importance of water as a resource and the need to face challenges. The most important is the scarcity of fresh water. Searching for new alternatives and preserving water bodies from pollution and depletion is an international concern," he added.

Kuwait is suffering from water shortage because it is geographically situated in a dry weather area. "This is why the sea water desalination plants were established-to produce fresh water. This strategic technique is indispensable. Further, unused sources of water such as the treated sewage water can be used for irrigation or industry," he said.

The Minister took the responsibility of offering treated water, which is supplied to people at a marginal rate with the government's support. "The ministry has spent a large sum of money to produce water. This has lead us to think about the ways of directing its use to ensure continuity.

He said that the rate of local water production will increase. "The current production capacity of the desalination stations is 430 million gallons per day. Production will be raised to 600 million gallons during the next few years," he explained.

An individual consumes an average of 450 liters of water in Kuwait "This number is the highest on an international level, when compared to the neighboring countries who share similar weather conditions. This number signifies the amount of water that is wasted. All this leads us to call for the rational use of water. This needs the cooperation of both the individuals and the public authorities," Al-Olaim highlighted.

He also explained awareness campaign will be held in two parts. "The first part will be an awareness campaign for consumers, concentrating on the young generation, and will be held in cooperation with the Kuwait Engineers Association. The second part will consist of distributing water saving tools, with KISR's cooperation. A million pieces will be given out to about 100,000 houses, public buildings, schools, mosques and hospitals. This will save at least 20 million gallons of water daily," he concluded.