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The three cities of Abu Dhabi Emirate within the United Arab Emirates – the coastal city Abu Dhabi itself (more than one million inhabitants) as well as the inland oases Al Ain (0,4 million inhabitants) and Liwa (about 0,1 million inhabitants) – receive their drinking water supply entirely from desalinated seawater. Their wastewater is being treated and reused for the irrigation of green spaces.
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Water use
About half of the annual water production from all sources is used for irrigation of green spaces, as well as in agriculture. The other half is used for domestic uses. Freshwater use per capita is about 650 liters per day, including water supplied for the irrigation of green spaces.
As of 2009, in Al Ain "due to constraints on both the transmission and distribution networks, up to 45 percent of customers (were) on a restricted (intermittent) supply".
History
Abu Dhabi has witnessed an explosion of wealth and population since its independence in 1971 and the oil boom of 1973. Before, groundwater was the only source of water supply. It was very scarce, since there is little recharge and most of the aquifers are highly saline. It was only through seawater desalination that the growth of Abu Dhabi became possible. Seawater desalination used thermal technologies that couple desalination with power production. Water was provided free of charge. The plants were initially owned and operated by the government through the Water and Electricity Department, and financing was provided by the state from oil revenues.
In the mid-1990s, the government decided to reorganize the water and electricity sector. The reform was inspired by the pro-private sector and pro-competition climate reigning during the 1990s, and it was implemented through foreign advisors. The reform of both sectors was based on the principle of unbundling production, transmission and distribution:
The sector was to be regulated by a public agency with a certain degree of autonomy from the government. The new structure was formally adopted through law No (2) concerning the regulation of the water and electricity sector passed in 1998. The holding company ADWEA and the regulator, the Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB), were functionally established shortly afterwards. In 2000 the government signed the first contract for a private power and desalination plant. The sanitation sector was initially left out of the reform and remained a responsibility of the municipality, despite heavy investments that were required for wastewater treatment and reuse. Only in 2005 a separate sanitation operator, Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, was established.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the protection of the environment gradually became more important in Abu Dhabi. In 2005 the Emirate created the Environment Department, which established a Strategic Water Master Plan published in 2009. When presenting the Master Plan, the chairman of the Environment Agency said that the future would be very challenging unless action was taken to reduce water consumption, which is among the highest per capita in the world. The Plan describes the current status and the environmental and technical issues related to projections of demand and supply, groundwater abstraction, desalination, water supply and sanitation, irrigation, wastewater treatment and Emirati governance and institutions. The government has run a media campaign to encourage people to save water. It has also distributed water-saving toilets and showerheads free of charge. The emirate also is in the process of expanding the use of reclaimed water.
Responsibilities
Policy. Abu Dhabi is ruled by a Sheikh. Below him is an Executive Council taking care of day-to-day policy-making. The Council is chaired by the Crown Prince. The Chairmen of four Departments and a number of Authorities are members of the Executive Council. The government structure is not comparable to the Western structure of Ministries and separate technical authorities under those Ministries. Authorities in Abu Dhabi are rather comparable to Ministries. Water supply and sanitation in Abu Dhabi is the responsibility of the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (ADWEA). As mentioned above, the Chairman of ADWEA is a member of the Executive Council and holds the rank of a Minister.
The sector is governed by two laws:
Eight private Independent Water and Power Production (IWPP) companies operate on the Build-Own-Operate (BOO) formula, producing and selling desalinated water to the Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Company (ADWEC). ADWEC is owned by the government through ADWEA and is the single buyer of desalinated water and the single supplier of water for the distribution companies. The Abu Dhabi Transmission and Dispatch Company (TRANSCO), a public company, transports water from the desalination plants to the networks of the distribution companies. The Abu Dhabi distribution company (ADDC) sells water and electricity to approximately 216,000 customers in Abu Dhabi and its suburbs. The Al Ain distribution company does the same in Al Ain. The Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company is a public company in charge of sanitation.
The Regulation and Supervision Bureau (RSB) for the Water and Electricity Sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi enforces relevant laws through licensing. It is in charge both of technical regulation and price regulation.
Tariffs and cost recovery
As of January 1, 2015, UAE citizens pay 1.7 Dirham (0.46 USD) per cubic meter of water for a very generous first block of consumption, which is set at 700 liters per day for apartments and 7,000 liters per day for villas. Above these amounts, the tariff increases slightly to 1.89 Dirham (0.51 UD) per cubic meter. Previously, water was free of charge for UAE citizens. Foreign residents and commercial users were always charged for water, starting at 5.95 Dirham (USD 1.61) per cubic meter in the lowest consumption block. The introduction of water tariffs for residents aims at reducing subsidies, encourage the efficient use of water and raise awareness of the importance of reducing consumption. It was combined with a large public relations campaign, as well as advice for customers who want to save water. Even before the change in tariff, bills highlighted water usage beyond a certain level in red and showed the subsidy paid by the state.
The two public distribution companies receive a government subsidy. In turn, they pay a bulk supply tariff reflecting the full economic cost to ADWEC, which in turn pays for the water received from the private IWPPs under Water and Power Purchase Agreements. Bulk supply tariffs are adjusted by the RSB every four years based on maximum allowable revenues.
Investment and financing
Investment in desalination plants is financed by the private sector through BOO contracts. Investment in water distribution and sewerage infrastructure is financed by the government through subsidies to the respective public companies. Investment in both power and water production and distribution was more than US$36 billion from 1999 to 2008. Since power and water are produced and distributed by the same companies, separate figures for investment in water infrastructure are not available.