RIYADH — The National Water Company (NWC) has invited the civil society and citizens to interact with the National Program for Water Conservation (Qatrah), a National Transformation Program initiative by the water distribution sector to preserve water as a non-renewable national resource in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

Mohammed Bin Ahmed Al-Mowkley, NWC’s CEO, praised the support of Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, minster of environment, water and agriculture, who launched the program amid the Saudi Water Forum (SWF2019) under the theme of “Sustainable Water, for Sustainable Development” last week.

Qatrah comes at a time when Saudi Arabia is among the highest per capita water-consuming countries around the world, which is not consistent with its water shortage situation.

The average per capita water consumption in the Kingdom is 263 liters a day, said Al-Mowkley.

“According to the national strategy for water that we are working on via Qatrah and a wide range of other awareness programs and conservation solutions in cooperation with providers of conservation tools, that average is expected to come down to 200 liters per day by 2020 and 150 liters per day by 2030”. The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) has approved the labeling for the efficiency of water rationalization tools. It states that suppliers should provide the local market with approved products only and unapproved tools must be removed from the market.

The national program will boost the optimal use of water, raise awareness of the importance of conservation and the necessity to change consumption behaviors. It will effectively reduce use, assist in sustaining water resources, and achieve optimal investment of water resources via conserving and preserving it.

“The collective nature of Qatrah requires everyone in the community including individuals as well as corporate, public and private sectors to interact, so that we can conserve water,” Al-Mowkley said.

The NWC has signed agreements with many private entities to begin the implementation, which will reduce domestic water leaks and cut consumption in private and governmental buildings. Leaking is one of the major reasons for high consumption and expensive bills. Several leak detection methods are available that customers can use by themselves or via specialized companies to cut the waste.

The collective nature of Qatrah requires everyone in the community including individuals as well as corporate, public and private sectors to interact, so that we can conserve water. — SG