Water tech conference, exhibition kick off

Under the patronage of Minister of Electricity and Water and Minister of Public Works Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim, Kuwait Water Technology Conference and Exhibition kicked off here Wednesday. "Water is very vital and important for everyone and huge efforts are exerted to meet the growing demand of it and preserve its resources," Minister Al-Ibrahim said in the opening speech, read out by Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Electricity and Water for Water Stations Operation and Maintenance En. Mohammad Bushehri. He added that Ministry of water strives to meet the steadily growing demand for water and combat illegal waste of it. He stressed that need for new legislations to penalize water wasting and to help the ministry take the required firm actions against violators. "The rate of water consumption in Kuwait is one of the highest worldwide due to several factors," the Minister said, estimating the consumption of Kuwait residents at around 500 liters per capita. He pointed out that Kuwait built eight advanced water desalination stations that desalinate water and generate electricity since 1950s. "Work is going on in Al-Sulaibiya station which will produce about 450,000 cubic meters of treated sewage water for irrigation purposes," he said. The Minister underlined the need for rationalizing water consumption, noting that water resources are scare in the Gulf region. "In this regard, the Ministry has organized a series of campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of water and electricity consumption rationalization." The two-day event brings together key industry experts to discuss current challenges, innovative technical and practical solutions to the water industry across the Middle East, highlighting case studies on best practices and recent developments in the field of water leakage, desalination and wastewater treatment. It focuses on innovations, products and services, as well as best practices, successful case studies and practical applications of water technologies. The conference and exhibition aim to explore modern technologies for optimum use of the available limited water resources, build an exchange platform for the most advanced technology of desalination water reuse industry and adopt the appropriate technology advancement for the reuse of non-conventional water for the arid and semi-arid regions to meet domestic water demands and ecosystem challenges