(MENAFN- Gulf Times) It is imperative to clean water on construction sites that carries dangerous biological and technical contaminants, HE the Minister of Environment Ahmed Amer Mohamed al-Humaidi has stressed.
He made the observation while delivering his opening speech at the Water Sustainability in Construction Conference 2015, which was held in Doha recently.
Hosted by Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute, Uniquip-Hoelscher and Hyder Consulting/Arcadis, the conference featured prominent speakers such as HE al-Humaidi; Ali Saif al-Malki, president's adviser for water affairs, Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa); and Hans-Udo Muzel, German ambassador to Qatar.
"To keep the job sites dry, safe and operating became a serious challenge," the minister said. "Construction sites must be dewatered. In addition to dewatering the site, contractors in Qatar are obliged to make sure that dangerous biological contaminants, toxic chemicals and other materials from the construction process do not pollute the community's groundwater or reach the sea.
"The Government of Qatar is fully aware of the issue that water is a scarce and therefore very valuable, if not the most valuable resource."
He noted that traditional, old approaches to just pumping, straining sediments and treating construction water at a low level are not enough to avoid health risks and meet environmental standards of modern, large-scale infrastructure projects. "It is a necessity to use state-of-the-art solutions to technically treat construction water, which then might be reused - for example in construction, irrigation or even for daily usage."
New German envoy Muzel appreciated the efforts of the Qatar government to actively approach the problem of polluted construction water in Qatar and offered to intensify the good co-operation between Germany and Qatar in the field of green building technology and sustainable water treatment solutions.
Al-Malki, in his keynote speech, observed that enhancing efficiency in the use of water resources to support better living standards for current and future generations was key to protecting Qatar's environment, reducing pollution and improving the community's health.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.