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RTA wins Arab Ideas Award for recycling Bus Wash Water |
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The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has recently won the Arab Ideas Award organized by the Dubai Quality Group in the 'Best Green Practices' category. RTA scooped the Award thanks to adopting the best practices in recycling bus wash water at bus depots where water-recycling plants were constructed. Abdullah Yousef Al Ali, CEO of RTA's Public Transport Agency, was pleased for winning the Award, which signals RTA's commitment to saving energy & driving the green economy concepts through reducing the impact of global warming & optimizing the use of water in washing buses at depots. He noted that desalination plants were the source of water in the UAE. “Among the key challenges encountered were the huge quantities of water wasted in washing buses as well as the disposal of wastewater via tankers due to the lack of sewage networks in remote depots. To ensure a high level of bus cleanliness, bus wash water recycling plants were established, which has contributed to reducing water consumption by more than 90% as each bus previously used to require 200 liters for washing compared to 20 liters after the use of recycling stations,” he explained. “We have more than 1,400 buses, each has to be washed 10 times per month, making a total of 168,000 bus wash annually; a process that used to consume more than 35 million liters of water p.a., whereas now it only requires 7 million liters p.a.,” added Al Ali. “Winning the Arab Ideas Award culminates the efforts of the Public Transport Agency in charting out plans, and compiling feasibility studies focused on the latest practices of preserving the environment. RTA has got in place a comprehensive strategy and future plans for saving energy and advancing the concept of green economy in a sustainable environment,” concluded Al Ali. |
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