UN experts’ help urged in rainwater harvesting: Bahrain

UN experts’ help urged in rainwater harvesting: Bahrain

United Nations (UN) experts could be asked to step in to help Bahrain harvest rainwater to prevent the annual deluge from going down the drain or pumped up and disposed of into the sea.Municipal chiefs are urging the government to ask the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to present options to save the soaking for the rest of the year the kingdom is sizzling under the sun.

Millions of cubic metres of rainwater are being wasted annually, said the Capital Trustees Board Chairman Saleh Tarradah, suggesting that it should be channelled into reservoirs.“When the rain is this heavy we should conserve what is a limited resource,” he said. “It is time for UN experts to come in and help us with available modern options.”Harvested and treated rainwater could then be used to water gardens and agricultural land, for livestock and domestic use, as well as help replenish groundwater levels.Some of the answers could also come from looking at the past when Bahrain’s historic springs were a source of fresh water, he added.

Former Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning minister Essam Khalaf told the previous Parliament that tests carried out to reuse rainwater had proven