Providentially I was doing a course on Global Information Systems in the Ministry of Municipalities and Urban Planning in November 2015 when thunderstorms and widespread flooding struck Qatar after hitting Oman hard. The Autumn rains had come which as mentioned in Psalm 84 of the Bible have been creating pools in rocky Arabia for thousands of years. I did comment on the lack of drains.

Indeed still there was nowhere for all the rain to go except to collect in depressions and on low lying roads. Drainage was not on the minds of most civil engineers when constructing Qatar’s roads and walkways in the baking sun which at the peak of summer steams us in high humidity at 58 degrees Celsius. The only solution now was an organised task force of tankers sent to suck up all the water and then pump it out somewhere where it would not block or drown the traffic or otherwise annoy Qatar’s residents.

Puddles of water lay in some places evaporating in the sun for weeks allowing birds to bathe and drink and resourceful plants to take advantage. Since November God has blessed us with more rain than usual in the year- at least 7 rainy days sometimes raining the whole day long often very heavily-definitely more than the average 80mm per year. Commentators from the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute at Qatar University have rightly said that this type of sudden deluge needs to be prepared for by setting up rain gardens of plants and trees placed in strategic locations to absorb run off and channels leading to reservoirs underground to capture and look after this precious fresh water at least for the irrigation needs of each local area.

This run-off could be purified by filtration through tanks of sand activated charcoal and clay particles which can get rid of any oil pollution and produce odourless and tasteless transparent water. Some research into this method has been taking place at the Environmental Science Center at Qatar University to deal with sea water polluted by the oil industry.

Bioremediation using plants such as reeds and root-dwelling microbes to purify water can be combined with filtration to treat run-off water especially on farms and landscaping areas as well as water extracted from construction projects which penetrate the groundwater now only 2m below the surface in some places. Some plants such as mangroves and other salt water tolerant plants often reduce the salinity of the sea water secreting salt from their leaves. Perhaps these can be used to rectify the slightly saline well water.

These techniques can be applied to the recycling of collected grey water from sinks baths showers and washing machines so that the water can be used in irrigation. One way that water recycling is currently done in Qatar is to collect all the grey and black (sewage) waste water from many areas into a central location in the new Doha North Sewage treatment Works (DNSTW) 25km north of Doha. Here it is treated to purify it from all organic matter and nitrogen initially fine screening using step screens and vortexes to remove grit;various stages of membranes like sieves;then settling and sedimentation; and microbial digestionand finally disinfection using ultra violet light until it becomes ‘Treated Sewage Effluent’ (TSE). This transparent and odourless water is then piped out to landscaping areas both existing and under construction and each area is given a ration.

Currently this TSE is rarely used for food production and not in all areas due to health and safety concerns although I have heard of at least one farm producing healthy food by using it. More research needs to be done on it. There have been suggestions to pump some of this underground to improve groundwater salinity and levels as only about 1% of reserves are recharged each year and rocks further purify the water. Also it seems quite likely that TSE water will be used in new technologies that pump water around buildings for example in the new Lusail City to cool them thereby minimising the need for air conditioning and reducing energy costs and as a result the carbon footprint of Qatar.

Grey water (soapy water) is however rarely separated from black water (sewage) even in the buildings meeting some of the highest sustainability standards. New building design by civil engineers and architects should make this water separation a priority. All that is needed are two separate plumbing systems including a tank for grey water in each building or part of a large building. Retrofitting to do this only works where drainage pipes are accessible. Efforts to do this should be part of architectural and planning sustainability standards and guidelines such as GSAS and QSAS.

What would be most helpful in Qatar is to have all tanks for normal clean water and grey water placed under the buildings to keep the water cool rather than on the roof as is normal here in Qatar. Currently our water is cold in winter requiring heating with a boiler but very hot in the summer when many people in Qatar therefore have no access to cold water for cooling showers or washing unless they store it indoors in buckets.

Despite the heavy rains Qatar sorely needs to replenish its aquifers and underground water ways as well water has become increasingly saline due to over pumping from wells and salt water is seeping in. Some farmers realised only too late after now a third of farmland since 1990 became too salty to grow most food crops. So now use of well water is restricted and some farms such as SulaiteenAl-Nakheel and RozaHassad desalinate and recycle their well water including that used to cool their greenhouses and poly tunnels.

Due to the aquifer depletion desalination of sea water is how most of the tap water in Qatar is obtained. Using a lot of energy from gas the salt is removed from the sea water and then some useful minerals and a small amount of chlorine are added to the water for our health and safety. Qatar’s tap water has been reported to be of very high quality and healthy to drink regularly.

One waste product of desalination is hyper-saline water which is usually pumped back into the sea making it more salty and bad for marine ecosystems and hence the fishing and tourism industries. Another is carbon dioxide which contributes to climate change. The increasing salinity of underground water reserves is another problem that need to be solved. Unless these issues are tackled the future development of Qatar is unsustainable and under threat. Water resources have to be managed carefully to meet the demands of food production landscaping industry and domestic use.

Tap water seems abundant but after rain storms my garden hose pipe usually has no water meaning that so many people are cleaning the muddy water off their cars that there is not enough left for our area. This is an indication that it is hard to meet the high demands of Qatar’s residents of 460 to 600 litres per day on average. Kahramaa have been conducting a huge publicity campaign about conservation of water to reduce consumption and have started fining people for excessive and unnecessary use of water as well as electricity. The tap water usage could be reduced by charging everyone a small amount per litre and promoting grey water and run off collection and recycling within each property if possible.

A process used in desalination being researched by faculty members of Qatar University College of Engineering is ‘Reverse Osmosis’. It uses applied pressure (requiring energy) and a semipermeable membrane to remove ions molecules and larger particles from drinking water. The Monsson Group a leading company in Europe in the development of renewable energy projects have recently started investing in solar and wind powered reverse osmosis to desalinate water on a large scale at a farm owned by Ali Hussain Ali Al Sada in Qatar.

Qatar has an abundance of wind and sun and enough need and money to invest in new technology. Solar desalination another good idea simply uses the free heat of the sun to evaporate the water component of sea water in ‘stills’ and leave behind the valuable salts useful to industry the clever bit being the way it condenses the evaporated water and catches it and collects it. This process can take place on land or on a large ship or even in floating greenhouses. Solar technology has become ever more efficient and solar desalination produces zero liquid discharge.

The Sahara Project belonging to a Norwegian company but sited in Qatar utilizes solar desalinated water to water its greenhouse plants. The evaporation is used to cool the greenhouses as well as steam driven electricity generating turbines not wasting any resource. The Qatar National Development Plan (2011-2016) recognises that solar powered desalination has great potential and more companies should take an interest in this probably high yielding investment opportunity.

I recommend that Qatar’s government ministries with the cooperation and investment of private companies with expertise from abroad use of all the available techniques to make the most of every drop of fresh water and desalinate sea water more sustainably. This will help Qatar to improve its air water and soil quality help local ecosystems reduce its carbon footprint and become more water and food secure and therefore more resilient in the future ensuring that Qatar can continue to develop and grow as it dreams of.