Hazza Bin Zayed: Strategic Water Reserve is a Step to Achieving Water Security

H.H. Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Council, stated: “The large strategic water reserve that has been recently completed and operated in Liwa of Dhafra Region in Abu Dhabi is a major achievement and a giant step towards achieving sustainable water security.”
“The directives given by His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the follow-up of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region, are the main driver behind ensuring sustainability at the water and electricity sector in line with the Abu Dhabi Plan 2030 and the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036, aimed at providing water security, social welfare and economic wellbeing for the entire country,” said Sheikh Hazza
Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed stressed that the future of water resources in Abu Dhabi and securing the sources of water supplies in UAE is one of the priorities of UAE wise leadership’s attention and constant follow-up.
Press statements of H.H. Sheik Hazza bin Zayed were made following His Highness’ visit to the of the major strategic water reserve project in Liwa in Dhafra Region. Worth mentioning, the project is the world’s largest freshwater storage project. It has a network of 315 wells that extend under Liwa desert with a storage capacity of more than 5.6 billion gallons of fresh water.
.H. Sheik Hazza bin Zayed was accompanied by H.E. Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bawardi, Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazroui, Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, Jassem Mohammed Bu Attabha Al Zaabi, Head of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, Major General Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, Commander-in-Chief of Abu Dhabi Police, Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Head of Urban Planning and Municipalities, Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak Secretary General of Environment Authority- Abu Dhabi, and Dr. Saif Saleh Al Sai’eiri, Acting Director General of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) in addition to a number of senior officials.
Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan hailed the efforts exerted by ADWEA in implementing the large project which sets a new milestone to its achievements in this vital sector.
He pointed out that ADWEA through its great potentials at the level of human and technical expertise and its productive capacity of electricity and water, is able to move ahead with the excellence and success journey to ensure the achievement of sustainability principle in this sector.
Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed praised the existing partnerships between State institutions and foremost international companies in the implementation of vital and central projects in view of UAE prestigious leading position at the regional and international levels.
Noteworthy, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) has already announced the completion of this strategic project on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week assuring arriving at the level of storage capacity of the water reserve and the successful start-up of the project by pulling out part of the stored water from the storage basin into the water network by the end of 2017. The storage basin currently has more than 26 million cubic meters of water which is equivalent to 5.6 billion gallons allowing the supply of drinking water when needed.
The project contributes to boosting water security in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi through transferring desalinated water from desalination plants through pipes network and injecting it into the underground reservoirs system consisting of 315 of 80-meter deep wells. The desalinated water is filtered prior injecting it over the underground water layer in the basins through an underground pipe system relying on gravity as a driving force. The project aims to achieve the society’s well-being in the long term through the conservation and development of groundwater resources, recognizing the need to develop more injection and recovery projects to provide water flexibly and meet the requirements of different sectors.
The cost of the strategic freshwater storage project in Liwa is estimated at 1.61 billion dirhams in one of the world’s driest regions with an annual precipitation of 10 cm to pump out more than 40 million gallons of fresh water reserves daily to enhance qualities of drinking water supplies when needed.
The total length of the project pipelines exceeds 300 km with a maximum diameter of 1.2 m. The pipeline parts were transported to the desert and assembled using high precision welding technology and by implementing the highest levels of monitoring, follow-up and thorough checkups to ensure the quality of the welded points to ensure lack of water leakage points using X-ray techniques, in addition to testing the network capacity to withstand the high pressure of water flowing through them over the next 50 years at least.
The project was conducted using environmentally friendly materials according to the highest engineering specifications which are appropriate to the region in all stages of construction and implementation of the project. The leakage basin was isolated using protective materials and a mixture of gravel and other well selected materials. These gravels are featured by their large pores to equally distribute water and ensure better filtration processes. The perimeter of the basin has been fenced with a three-tiered fence of palm fronds to create a buffer zone to protect groundwater and avoid any incidents of contamination of stored groundwater while monitoring and controlling equipment is operated using solar panels.