Ministry launches conserve water drive

RIYADH — A nationwide campaign has been launched by the Ministry of Water and Electricity to educate the public on the need to reduce water consumption. It has advised the public to use buckets and sponges instead of waterhoses to wash their cars. “The use of waterhoses in car wash will result in the wastage of 15 liters of water every minute,” the ministry said while urging the public to reduce the frequency of the weekly carwash. The campaign aims at enlightening the public about the present and future situation of water resources in the Kingdom, emphasizing the need to apply practical measures to rationalize consumption. It addresses various groups of citizens to educate them on the need to reduce the use of water considering the high rate of per capita consumption in the country. The campaign emphasized that people have been misusing the low water tariff in the Kingdom, compared to other countries. The campaign explained that the new water tariff depended on consumption. The new pricing has five categories as follows: 1. Less than 15 cubic meters: SR0.1 per cubic meter + SR0.05 for sewage services. 2. 16 to 30 cubic meters: SR1 per cubic meter + SR0.5 for sewage services. 3. 31 to 45 cubic meters: SR3 per cubic meter + SR1.5 for sewage services. 4. 46 to 60 cubic meters: SR4 per cubic meter + SR2 for sewage services. 5. More than 60 cubic meters: SR6 per cubic meter and SR3 for sewage services. The ministry explained that about 61 percent of consumers use 40 cubic meters of water per month. For such consumers the calculation of tariff would be as follows: For the first 15 cubic meters x SR0.10 = SR1.5; Second 15 cubic meters x SR1 = SR15; and the last 10 cubic meters x SR3 = SR30, Al-Watan Arabic daily said in a report on Monday.