The latest study carried out by the Studies and Research Department of the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority confirmed the increase in water consumption in the residential sector from the beginning of the current year until the end of April 2020 by 16.7 percent, while it decreased in the industrial sector by 6.6 percent and decreased in the commercial sector by 4.2 percent and the percentage of decline in the government sector By 2.7 percent, compared to the same period in the previous year.
The study indicated that the quantities of water distributed in the Emirate of Sharjah during the first quarter of this year achieved an increase of 13 percent, amounting to 8 billion and 285 million gallons, while it was 7 billion and 319 million gallons during the last quarter of 2019.
The Chairman of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, Dr. Eng. Rashid Al-Lem stressed that the remarkable increase in water consumption in the residential sector, which was confirmed by the statistic, came to meet the increasing demand for water as a result of precautionary measures and the large number of residents of the Emirate of Sharjah staying in their homes for long times in compliance with the dates of national sterilization.
He pointed out that the authority is making great efforts to produce and desalinate water and distribute it to subscribers, as well as making efforts to sensitize them to the importance of water conservation and optimal use. The authority has prepared a set of programs and plans to educate subscribers, especially in the residential sector, which is experiencing an increase in consumption quantities as a result of the commitment of the masses to stay in their homes and not go down Except for the emergency conditions to prevent the spread of the Corona virus, where several initiatives were launched to follow up the rationalization of consumption in residential areas such as detecting leaks, installing parts and rationalization tools that provide more than 40 percent of, as well as raising awareness of the importance of adopting rationalization behaviors in the use of water.
The director of the Engineering Studies and Research Department, Mayada Al-Bardan, pointed out that the authority works in cooperation with academic institutions and local and international universities to implement specialized studies in the areas of the authority's work, which helps in proper planning and appropriate decisions and the provision of statistical data and indicators on what has been accomplished in the fields and sectors of its work and make it available to scholars and researchers and is used These indicators are in planning future projects to provide for the increasing requirements of the services provided by the authority, foremost of which is providing clean water to all residents of the emirate.
She emphasized that the authority has achieved a number of positive results from the application of studies and research carried out by it was able to determine the percentage of water losses in networks more accurately and more thoroughly which contributed to determining the locations of leaks in networks accurately and in the least possible time in addition to assessing the condition of water pipes and determining the degree of efficiency and age The rest, in order to facilitate the necessary maintenance work before the failure occurred and replace the worn out ones with efficiency and cost.
The head of the research department, Dr. Alaa El-Din Mohamed Al-Hassan, explained that the studies that were completed and published in international periodicals and scientific journals included 22 researches where a number of research papers were completed and published in the field of efficiency and management of water resources related to the quality of the water produced and distributed in the networks of the Authority using the applications of geographical information systems Remote sensing and industrial intelligence to determine the centers of quality of water quality and its geographical distribution in the city of Sharjah in the field of groundwater and determine its locations and quality and the quality of groundwater and its change over time. As for the conservation of water resources and their reuse, 4 research papers have been published in the field of gray water, where the Authority is considered One of the pioneers in this field, regionally and globally.