Tap Water in Dubai: Is It Drinkable? Where Does It Come From?

People new to the emirate, considering a visit to it, or even living in Dubai have a lot of questions about tap water in Dubai. Is Dubai tap water drinkable? Does it need to be filtered before use? Does it cause hair fall and dry skin? Where does it come from? Does it have any potential health risks? – And the list goes on.

The reason behind all these questions is that most people are unaware of the basic facts about tap water in Dubai. Today, let’s find out more about where the tap water in Dubai comes from, whether it’s safe to drink this water and what filtration processes are required.

WHERE DOES TAP WATER IN DUBAI COME FROM?

There are two primary water sources in the UAE – the ground and the sea. Considering the arid conditions in the region, the groundwater in Dubai is not sufficient to fulfil the water needs of the emirate. Although these conditions are changing thanks to cloud seeding in the UAE, most of the water in Dubai still comes from the sea. Dubai uses world-class desalination plants to make seawater usable.

The tap water you receive at your home, whether it’s at a rental apartment in Dubai or the villa you recently purchased, is actually desalinated sea water. Water is pumped from the Arabian Gulf into DUBAL (Dubai Aluminum Company Limited) which has aluminium smelters and then passed on to DEWA (Dubai Electric and Water Authority) for power generation and water distribution.

woman drinking tap water — But, is Dubai tap water safe to drink?

IS IT SAFE TO DRINK TAP WATER IN DUBAI?

Official statements from DEWA have stated, “Our water quality across the generation, transmission and distribution networks meets the highest health and safety standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is the responsibility of the customer or owner and the maintenance companies to carry out regular maintenance of the internal networks and water tanks after the metre and to ensure that health and safety standards are met.”

Recently the Director of the Food Safety Department at Dubai Municipality, Iman Al Bastaki detailed what counts as regular maintenance to ensure that the water in your tap is safe to drink. Here’s what you need to do:

Your plumbing system and water tanks must be well maintained.
You must get the pipes and water tank regularly cleaned and flushed by an Emirates International Accreditation Centre-approved company.
Water samples need regular testing for drinking water parameters in an Emirates International Accreditation Centre-approved laboratory.
The lab results must be positive for tap water drinking safety in Dubai.

To sum it up, you can drink tap water in Dubai as long as you ensure that necessary steps have been taken to eliminate the potential risks of drinking Dubai’s tap water stored in your water tanks. A lot of people simply boil tap water in Dubai before drinking it.

DOES TAP WATER NEED TO BE FILTERED BEFORE USE?

tap water filter with a glass of water — As a precaution, it is always a good idea to use tap water filters in Dubai

All the DEWA water supplied to domestic and commercial developments in Dubai is thoroughly filtered. It is the water storage tanks that pose the risks of making tap water in Dubai unsafe for drinking purposes. This is why using a tap water filter in Dubai is common practice. Water filters help purify tap water of any impurities or harmful substances that may mix in it while the water is stored in the tanks. To filter tap water in Dubai before use is an advisable safety precaution.

There are many filtration services and water treatment companies in Dubai that you can consult to install such systems at home. The cost to fit a water filter in Dubai varies significantly and can go from amounts of under AED 100 to well over the thousands.

THE FUTURE OF TAP WATER IN DUBAI

In November 2019, the Food Control Department of the Dubai Municipality announced the addition of new guidelines to the Dubai Food Code. According to these new stipulations, from the year 2020, restaurants in Dubai are advised to offer tap water to their customers for free, whereby the restaurant owners must act with due diligence to ensure regular quality testing of their water tanks.

This measure serves the intent of discouraging the emirate-wide use of single-use plastic. The Dubai Municipality hopes to create enough awareness among the masses to influence a paradigm shift towards drinking tap water in Dubai abandoning single-use plastic bottles. While this is only an advisory, for now, the stipulation can prove monumental to ongoing efforts towards environmental conservation in Dubai.

plastic bottle on the beach — According to plasticoceans.org more than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year

That’s all we have for you now. Water is a precious resource and perhaps the biggest contribution to environmental protection on your part can be active water conservation. In addition to saving water, it will also reduce your expenses when you make your DEWA bill payment.

Apart from water conservation, you can opt to create a solar power home in Dubai with the help of DEWA. You can also find electric car charging stations by DEWA across Dubai.

It is no secret that sustainable energy sources are our planet’s only hope for a healthier and brighter future. Committed to the future, Dubai alongside the rest of the country has launched a number of sustainable development projects in the UAE. This includes the development of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, also known as the Dubai Solar Park.

In addition to all this, there are proper eco-friendly residential developments in Dubai that have reduced their carbon footprint using urban farming, renewable energy resources and other energy conservation techniques to protect the environment.

If you’d like to know more about the sustainability and environment-protection initiatives of Dubai and the UAE, follow MyBayut.