Palm Utilities, a leading private company that provides integrated sustainable utility solutions, has outlined new strategies to help resolve the UAE's future water challenges.

Inherently, these integrate the latest advances in energy utilisation, nano and molecular technologies as well as innovative water reuse and recycling systems, said a statement from Palm Utilities.

This will be crucial as the company seeks to pursue various large-scale water desalination and wastewater treatment and reuse projects, helping address the region's long-term water utility issues, it added.

Yousuf Kazim, CEO of Palm Utilities, said growing population and increasing industrialisation had strained the fresh water supply levels in the Arab World, a trend that was evident in countries such as the UAE.

"This has given rise to the importance of desalination as a key component in addressing the region's long-term water challenges, resulting in several billions of dollars being invested in various desalination projects across the UAE and in several other GCC countries," he pointed out.

The GCC, which already accounts for more than half of the 11,000 desalination facilities worldwide, expects an eight per cent annual growth of desalination plants as water demand continues to increase sharply among Gulf countries, he added.

The UAE, which is one of the world's largest per capita water consumers, is expected to increase desalination capacity by 76 per cent to 14.1 million cubic metres a day by 2016, according to a recent study by Japanese investment bank Nomura Securities.

This comes as the UAE's natural water resources are expected to shrink by 16 per cent in the next decade, it added.

The situation presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the water utility sector and Palm Utilities has revealed that it has already consolidated its technical and manpower resources to accommodate the increasing number of projects for energy-efficient and cost-effective desalination facilities in the UAE and the rest of the GCC.

"With the latest technological advances, desalination has become a truly viable long-term solution as we are now able to produce purified water in a more energy-efficient and affordable manner," Kazim remarked.

"Palm Utilities has already signed several contracts to develop desalination facilities and we intend to leverage our technical and manpower expertise to bid for more large-scale projects," he added.

Palm Utilities has been delivering district cooling, desalination, water purification, polished water, irrigation water production and wastewater reuse services in the region and has been responsible for some of the UAE's most prestigious utility projects, including The Palm Jumeirah, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Discovery Gardens, Jumeirah Islands and The Gardens.

In addition, Palm Utilities has also been focusing on reducing the carbon footprint of its operations, which has made the company a recipient of several local, regional and international awards for excellence.-TradeArabia News Service