Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie (front row second right) with other officials during the event held in Doha yesterday.
Doha: Minister of Municipality H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie affirmed that the treated sewage water in Qatar is free of any negative effects on the soil, air, animal feed, meat and dairy, saying that it is “completely safe”.
In a statement on the sidelines of the press conference held yesterday to announce the results of a study on “The safe use of treated wastewater in irrigated fodder and its impact on dairy and meat in Qatar,” the Minister of Municipality expressed satisfaction with the results of this four-year study, which tested thousands of samples that proved the correctness and safety of using treated water in Qatar.
The study was conducted by the Agricultural Research Department of the Ministry of Municipality in cooperation with the Belgian Sustainability Research Centre (VITO).
The Minister reassured everyone of these promising results, adding that experts described treated wastewater in Qatar not as “treated water” but as “surface water” due to its proven purity.
He noted that the Ministry was keen, during conducting this study, to adopt the principle of complete independence of the results, focusing on scientific aspects only and depending on specialised international scientific bodies that have a long history and experiences in this field.
The Director of the Agricultural Research Department at the Ministry, Hamad Saket Al Shammri, pointed to the importance of such a study in strengthening responsibility and joining efforts with the private sector to find appropriate solutions and address the issues facing the country and the increasing challenges the world is witnessing in terms of food security.
This is in the aspect related to water scarcity and climate change. In addition to identifying priorities and appropriate options to promote and build sustainable food systems to achieve the sustainable development goals.
VITO CEO Middle East, Arnoud Lust said that this project is a milestone for expanding the use of treated wastewater for irrigation in the State of Qatar, which is an essential resource given the country’s dry climate and water scarcity associated with it.
