TECOM Investments reduces water consumption by 6.2 million gallons in two months

The phenomenal accomplishment complements TECOM's earlier reduction of 9,512 tonnes of CO2 emissions with the Energy Conservation Programme that was implemented between April 2007 and February 2008.

TECOM's achievement was the outcome of a step-by-step exercise carried out by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (SEED).

The TECOM entity retrofitted wash basins across Dubai Internet City (DIC), Dubai Media City (DMC) and Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) with ultra low flow restrictors, to have a flow rate of 0.5 US gpm, a reduction of 80% over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards.

At the current rate, the initiative is estimated to bring down potable water consumption by approximately 37.2 million imperial gallons annually, which can support approximately 1,500 apartments, or reduce carbon emission to the tune of 2,500 tonnes a year.

Ali bin Towaih, Executive Director of Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (SEED), said: "The water conservation initiative is in line with the priorities on sustainable development as outlined in the Dubai Strategy Plan 2015. It is also linked to TECOM's 'green building' initiative and confirms its proactive and continuous commitment to sustainability, energy and water conservation for reducing our carbon footprint".

Dubai Internet City and Dubai Knowledge Village are not connected to Dubai Municipality's sewage network due to overloading caused by numerous real estate developments.

Therefore, sewage tankers are called in everyday to remove wastewater from containers located at DIC-Phase 3.

The water conservation initiative has cut down the earlier requirement of 22 sewage tankers per day on an average to approximately 17 tankers, resulting in a cost reduction of Dhs80,000 a month.

Reduction in tanker trips has in turn helped TECOM reduce the inflow into Dubai Municipality's sewage treatment plant, while mitigating fuel consumption and the volume of traffic.

TECOM Investments became the first organization in the Middle East to implement a Sustainable Development Policy in August 2006, creating the Sustainable Energy and Environment Division (SEED) as an implementation vehicle across TECOM.

The entity has since then put into place sustainable development measures across all components of TECOM Investments, and assisted in developing the Energy and Environment Park (ENPARK).