Empower, one of the world’s largest district cooling service providers, reported in Trade Arabia that it has achieved record saving of 263 million in imperial gallons of fresh water in 2015, enough to fill 478 Olympic swimming pools. Empower is a member of the International District Energy Association (IDEA).
This was possible due to the use of Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) as opposed to desalinated water.
The milestone has been achieved despite the higher demand for district cooling services in Dubai, in which Empower occupies a share of 70 per cent, said a top official.
“This comes in the framework of the company’s keenness to preserve water resources in Dubai, and adherence to the national strategy for sustainable development of water resources,” remarked its chief executive Ahmad Bin Shafar.
Many years ago, Empower replaced fresh water with TSE in its district cooling operations, understanding its high environmental benefits, he pointed out.
The technology was awarded International District Energy Association (IDEA)’s first Innovation Award in 2013. “We follow strict green standards, where the use of TSE contributes to saving natural resources in Dubai,” stated Bin Shafar.
Bin Shafar said that the company follows strict criteria and develops advanced techniques that enables it to re-use treated water repeatedly, which saves millions of gallons of water.
“We use TSE water in our tanks at the plants, which is further treated to produce chilled water several times. Empower boasts a network of insulated pipes to transport chilled water to the buildings where warm water returns to its plant rooms to be re-chilled,” explained Bin Shafar.
“Empower makes great strides in minimizing its water footprint where all our cooling plants follow these international standards,” he added.
Source: IDEA