Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) $80 billion investment in world-leading water and wastewater sustainability initiatives, will take centre stage at the Water Expo & Forum, part of the World Future Energy Summit 2020, to be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
The summit will be held from January 13 to 16, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).
Taking UAE water innovations to a global audience, the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company is the event’s strategic partner.
Water demand is rapidly rising throughout the world, from India to South Africa, and especially across the GCC, because of factors such as growth in population, urbanization, agricultural and industrial projects, and real estate development.
As a result, a recent report by MEED Insights shows that the GCC’s water demand is set to increase by 62 per cent by 2025, and GCC countries are investing $80 billion in water and wastewater projects.
Strategies are being rolled out across the GCC to conserve and reuse water resources. For example, the UAE Water Security Strategy 2036 aims to reduce water demand by 21 per cent and increase reuse of treated water by 95 per cent.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s Qatrah initiative plans to cut daily per capita water consumption by nearly half from 263 litres to 150 litres by 2030. One of the biggest sectors for water sustainability is agriculture, which is responsible for 82 per cent of the kingdom’s non-renewable water consumption.
Supporting water sustainability across the GCC and the world, the Water Expo & Forum will bring together hundreds of water and wastewater manufacturers and suppliers, public and private sector business and technology innovators, and global thought leaders to showcase the latest solutions and exchange best practices in water and wastewater sustainability.
The event will be supported by the Strategic Partnership of the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, which is the government agency that safely collects, treats, disposes, and recycles wastewater from residential and commercial customers.
Prominent Water Expo exhibitors will include Andritz Group, among Austria’s leading firms for special industry plants, equipment, and services; BMC Gulf, a Dubai-based engineering firm; Hepworth, a Dubai-based manufacturer and marketer of integrated piping systems; and Turan Makina, a Turkey-headquartered multi-national manufacturer of plastic piping systems.
Andritz Group, the Austria-headquartered company, will bring more than 170 years of experience in supplying plants, equipment, and services for special industries.
Muhammad Abou Daoud, sales director - Middle East, Andritz Group, said: “Middle East utilities providers are driving the region’s water innovation market to deliver reliable, long-service, and low-maintenance water treatment plants.”
“For Andritz, the World Future Energy Summit’s Water Expo is an ideal platform to support new business leads in utilities leveraging our technologies, services, and solutions to update and build their water treatment, desalination, and wastewater plants,” he added.
Among the major homegrown firms from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) is Hepworth, a Dubai-based manufacturer and marketer of integrated piping systems to the Middle East and North Africa’s civil and building construction sectors.
Hamza Al Khayyat, marketing and specification manager, Hepworth, said: “The Middle East’s growing population, utilities infrastructure, and agricultural and industrial base require reliable and increasingly complex water management – leading to a growing need for high-quality, environmentally-friendly, and cost-efficient piping systems.”
“The summit’s Water Expo is a vital platform for Hepworth to deliver new business leads, and exchange best practices and educate the market on how integrated piping systems can support long-term water sustainability,” he added.
During the Water Forum from January 13-16, visitors can attend keynotes and panels on efficient water management, GCC water security priorities, mitigating natural and unnatural threats to water security, water in the digital age, desalination, agricultural water innovations, maximizing water reuse, water aid, scaling up new water resources, and KPIs and funding.
Grant Tuchten, group event director, World Future Energy Summit, said: “Our Water Expo & Forum will bring together the regional and global water public and private sector players to tackle the biggest challenges of water scarcity.”
“The forum visitors can learn about the latest water sustainability trends, exchange best practices on water technology, and meet new customers and investors to source practical water solutions from piping to desalination,” he added.
The World Future Energy Summit, hosted by Masdar and part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, is the largest event of its type in the Middle East and among the largest in the world.
