Impact of Subsidised Water Supply on Domestic and Public Water Consumption in Qatar

摘要

Qatar is a rich country due to oil and gas reserves. It lies in Arabian Gulf that is an arid region and as a result it is freshwater deficient. Due to lack of fresh water resources and the growing water requirements, the country relies heavily on water desalination.Water is supplied free of cost to the nationals and partially subsidized to the expatriates. The per capita supply of water is over 600 liters/person/day that includes domestic, commercial, public and industrial uses. Precious drinking water is not only used for municipal and industrial purposes but also for irrigating lawns and gardens. It is a real challenge to continue to meet such a demand in future, that too free of charge. rnHuge sum of money is required for desalination and more investment is needed for quality control and maintenance, that makes the tap water very precious. In fact a liter of oil in the country is cheaper than a liter of water.rn Subsidized water supply results in high water consumption and wastage. Unaccounted for water lies between 30 and 40% which is a huge loss to the state exchequer. Water leaking from pipes and fixtures, water dropping from improperly closed taps, leaking hose being used for gardening and leaking flushing tank are a common sight in schools, mosques, offices and other public buildings. The situation at homes is equally troubling.rn In future it may not be possible to keep on increasing the water supply by increasing the production.Demand management should be practiced instead of supply management. Even for a rich country like Qatar subsidy on water on long term basis is not sustainable because the cost of production and supply is very high.. Therefore subsidy on water has to be gradually eliminated. This will help in controlling the demand.Proper water conservation measures such as water reuse, water efficient plumbing regulation and building specifications will also result into water savings. rnThe objective of this paper is to describe the existing situation and the problems associated with subsidized water supply. Necessary line of action has been proposed herein to minimize the impact particularly on domestic and public water consumption.