Heroes of the UAE Water fact sheet

Transcription

1 Heroes of the UAE Water fact sheet This water fact sheet is split into two sections. The first lists the calculations and assumptions behind the projected savings as a result of implementing some of the water conservation tips listed on this section also includes calculations related to how much water will be saved by installing water saving devices on showers, taps and toilets (as planned by EAD and ADWEA) are based on The second section lists some larger level statistics on water consumption in the UAE, desalination, ecological and carbon footprint. PART 1: SAVINGS FROM WATER CONSERVATION ACTIONS The numbers presented in this section are for residential water consumption and savings for villas, shabiyat and apartments 1. Due to lack of data on water consumption behaviour for UAE residents, the Heroes campaign team has used its own judgment to develop assumptions for the savings presented in this section. Thus, the calculations for the projected savings below are based on a series of assumptions about how people consume water in order to construct a possible baseline consumption scenario calculate how much water might be saved via behavioral change. What is presented below is one of many possible scenarios. In the future, the campaign team aims to develop more scenarios in order to provide a range of possible savings for different water conservation behaviours. 1 Baseline figures from report: Demand-Side Management for Electricity and Water Use in Abu Dhabi, June RTI & Executive Affairs Authority

2 Summary of savings as a result of water conservation from behavioural change and installation of devices: Bathing Brushing teeth, shaving, washing vegetables Car washing Average daily consumption (litres) 95 per bath Water saving ACTION Take a 5 minute shower, not a bath Turn off the tap Use a bucket not a hose Savings per day due to Behaviour change (litres) Savings with water saving DEVICE Total savings with water saving DEVICE + behavior change (litres) Total % save % % % Toilets % TOTAL 625 Total savings % If everyone in the UAE only changed their behaviour every day, we would save 410 billion litres per year, or the equivalent of 164,250 Olympic sized swimming pools per year. 3 Worldwide best practices and from GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, highlight that installing water saving devices in your showers and taps can save about 30-35% from in house water use. Savings calculations: A) Showering instead of a bath (and installing a water saving valve in shower) Assumptions and baseline: One bath taken per day (replaced by one shower per day) One bath uses 95 litres of water Average shower is 5 minutes and flow rate is 11.4 litres per minute Installation of shower valve reduces flow to 9 litres per minute 2 An alternative scenario is assuming 3 washes per week, which equates to average savings of 77litres/person/day. This means savings of 149 litres/person/day in total. 3 Assumptions: 4.5 million population each own one car and wash it every day; one Olympic size pool contains 2.5 million litres of water. The alternative scenario based on a more conservative estimate for car washing would equate to olympic size swimming pools.

3 1) Taking a 5 minute shower instead of a bath saves 38 litres per day, which amounts to a 40% saving compared to a bath. a. 5 minute shower at 11.4 litres/minute = 57 litres b = 38 litres saving (or 40% compared to a bath) 2) Installing a water saving valve in the shower (and taking a 5 minute shower instead of a bath) can provide additional savings of 12 litres per day, or 50% (compared to bathing). a. 5 minute shower at 9 litres/minute = 45 litres b = 50 litres c. Just replacing existing showers with low flow shower heads would result in a 12 litre saving per 5 minute shower (57l-45l = 12 litres) B) Turning off the tap (and installing a water saving faucets) Assumptions and baseline: 3 taps used per day for 8 minutes, with a flow rate of 11.4 litres/minute Consumption per tap: 8 x 11.4 = 91.2 litres/day Turning off the tap reduces consumption to 7 minutes/tap/day Installing a water saving faucet reduces flow rate to 6 litres/minute 1) Turning off taps in your house can save 34 litres per day, or 13% compared to your normal use. a. Saving per tap: 91.2l -79.8l = 11.4 litres b. Saving for 3 taps: 11.4 x 3 = 34.2 litres c. % saving compared to inaction: (11.4/91.2) x 100 = 13% 2) Installing a water saving faucet in your tap can save up to 95 litres per day and 35% compared to normal use of your tap C) Car washing bucket and sponge instead of a hose Scenario 1: One car washed per day using a hose without a non-automatic shut-off uses 190 litres Scenario 2: One car washed 3 days a week using a hose without a non-automatic shut-off uses 190 litres per wash 1) Using a bucket and sponge and 10 litres of water, instead of a hose, can save 180 litres per day or 95% water. a. Total saving: = 180 litres per day; or 95% saving 2) Scenario 2 a. 180 x 3/7 = 77 litres average saving per day

4 D) Toilet installing a water saver in the tank and a water saving valve in the washing device Assumptions and baseline: Average house flushes 5 times, using 13.2 litres/flush = 66 litres per day A water saver in the tank is the equivalent to a 1.5 litre bottle of water (or three 500ml water bottles), reducing consumption per flush to 11.7 litres/flush 1) Dropping a water saver into your tank means you save 7.5 litres per day, or 11% compared to flushing with a normal tank. a. Total saving (litres): = 7.5 b. % saving: (7.5/66) x 100 = 11% PART 2: UAE STATISTICS ON ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT, WATER CONSUMPTION AND CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS The UAE has the highest per capita Ecological Footprint in the world, meaning that if every person lived like an average UAE resident, we would require 4.5 planets to sustain that level of consumption (WWF 2008). Over 80% of our footprint is due to consumption of carbon intensive goods and services (WWF 2008 and ABAB 2008) Water consumption has significantly grown since 1960, when potable water met demand (EAD 2009). Groundwater resources are exhausted as a result of urban and rural economy growth. Water stress index > 640% (Dawoud 2007). To satisfy demand, UAE has had to turn to power plants that co-generate electricity and desalinated water. In Abu Dhabi alone, desalination capacity has increased by 360% between 1998 and 2007 (EAD 2009). Most of these plants burn fossil fuels (gas and some oil) and release carbon dioxide, which means that rising consumption of desalinated water contributes significantly to our carbon footprint. In the Emirate of Abu Dhabi 4, 21 million tonnes CO 2 equivalent per year is produced from co-generation plants 5. Between 20-45% of this is attributed to water production and use. Thus water consumption and use contributes between 4 and 9 million tonnes of CO 2 equivalent per year. 36% of Abu Dhabi s total CO 2 emissions was from co-generative power and water plants 6. High withdrawal of sea water and plant discharge of brine and high temperature water are impacting marine biodiversity. At current levels of growth, ADWEC predicts that there will be possible challenges to meet demand beyond 2012 due to fuel (especially gas) shortages. (EAA & RTI 2009). 4 All statistics listed are from EAD (2009) Abu Dhabi Water Resources Master Plan. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi 5 CO 2 equivalent figure also includes the production of tonnes of nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide from the cogeneration plants. CO 2 emissions amounted to 13.5 million tonnes. Nitrous oxide is 200 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO 2, and is thus equivalent to 6.8 million tonnes of CO 2. Thus total CO 2 equivalent = 21MTCO 2. 6 This figure is not a CO 2 equivalent figure and only relates to the 13.5 MTCO 2 emissions.

5 New water production plants cost US$2 billion and take 6 years to build (EAD 2009). Currently, per capita water consumption of potable water in Abu Dhabi is 550 litres per day (EAD 2008). The residential sector relies almost 100% on desalinated water and almost half of the total desalinated water is used by the residential sector (EAA & RTI 2009). Indoor use is responsible of the majority of residential water use (60%); outdoor 40%. The highest water consumption indoors happens in the bathroom showers, toilets and faucets For outdoor use 52% is related to landscape irrigation, 45% car-washing and 3% from swimming pools. Estimated breakdown of Indoor versus Outdoor Water Use (EAA & RTI 2009) Litres % (000,000) Total indoor usage % Total outdoor usage % Estimated baseline Indoor Residential Water Consumption by End-Use (EAA & RTI 2009) End Use: Litres (000,000) % of total Dish washing 5 1.4% Clothes washing % Showers % Faucets % Toilets % Leakage and other %

6 References ABAB (2008) Executive summary of the first technical report of the UAE s Al Basama Al Beeiya Initiative. Available online at: Dawoud M (2007) Water scarcity in the GCC countries: challenges and opportunities. Gulf Research Centre: Dubai, UAE. EAA & RTI (2009) Demand-Side Management for Electricity and Water Use in Abu Dhabi, June RTI & Executive Affairs Authority: Abu Dhabi, UAE. EAD (2008) Our road map to the future: Abu Dhabi Environment Strategy Environment Agency Abu Dhabi. EAD (2009) Abu Dhabi Water Resources Master Plan. Environment Agency Abu Dhabi WWF (2008) Living Planet Report. Available online at: