WAM Dubai, 19 Apr. 2012 (WAM)-- Dubai Municipality is doing everything in its power to encourage people to conserve water to help reduce the impact on the desert environment, said Hamdan Al Shair, Director of the Environment Department at Dubai Municipality A litre of water saved is a litre of water earned and can drastically slash the need to keep going to the well, he added.

"People tend to forget that we are living in a desert environment and that water is scarce," Al Shair told the Gulf News English daily. "The real challenge we are facing is not to waste water".

The impact of desalination plants on sensitive Gulf shorelines in Dubai is ever present as desalination facilities pump heated brine water back into the environment after cooling down plant facilities, he said.

"From desalination, the brine goes back into the sea. There is an impact," Al Shair said. "We need to use water rationally to avoid damaging the environment." "The United Nations focus this year is on reducing the amount of water we use when we are cooking," he said. "A huge amount of water is used. We always use more water than we need when half will do." Dubai As one of the largest users per capita of water in the world, Dubai consumers are a thirsty lot, according to the latest statistics by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa).

In 2011, Dewa figures show the emirate consumed 400 million imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of desalinated water. A further 32 MIGD were taken from groundwater wells over the course of the year.

Water was provided to 532,885 consumers in 2011 compared with 507,193 consumers in 2010. Residential customers made up 80 per cent of the consumer roster while commercial water demands followed with 19.2 per cent. Industrial water demand was pegged at .23 per cent.

wam/latheef WAM/Latheef