Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) said that its 6,000 Million Imperial Gallons (MIG) Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project for desalinated water will be completed by 2025.
The completion date was confirmed in a press statement issued by the DFM-listed utility announcing the successful connection of the 120 MIG Nakhali water reservoir, built at a total cost of 287.8 million UAE dirhams ($78 million), to its network.
DEWA’s MD and CEO Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said the ASR project, when completed in 2025, will store up to 6,000 MIG of water, making it the largest ASR project in the world for storing potable water and retrieving it in case of emergency.
The project is expected to provide Dubai with a strategic water reserve of over 50 million gallons of desalinated water per day for 90 days during emergencies, according to previous statements issued by DEWA.
In August 2021, DEWA had issued a consultancy services tender for stage two of the ASR project. The first stage of the project was declared complete in March 2022.
The DEWA chief said the completion of water reservoir projects currently underway in Hatta, Hassyan and other areas will increase the overall desalinated water storage capacity to 1,121.3 MIG compared to the current capacity of 1,001.3 MIG.
In February 2024, the utility had reported that 210 MIG of reservoir projects were under construction.
