Water Savers campaign kicks off in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Ministry of Water and Electricity (MOWE) on Wednesday announced the launch of its 'Saudi Water Savers' campaign – in collaboration with Ariel and LG -, which is a Kingdom-wide campaign to address the water challenge in the country and to be aware of how Saudi population consume water in their daily quotas.

Research studies showed that on average each person in Saudi Arabia consumes 286 litres of water per day, the third highest consumption in the world after the U.S. (no1) and Canada (no2). It also showed that a large amount of water is wasted during the laundry process as it is done on a routine basis, according to a press conference by senior officials from MOWE, ARIEL and LG in Riyadh.

Washing machines

The conducted studies focused on a simple house hold task and defined how switching from a top loading washing machine to a front loading automatic washing machine saves 1000 litres of water per month per household.

Deputy Minister of Water & Electricity for planning and development Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Saud told the press conference that “for the last couple of years, we developed educational programs throughout the campaigns we held to drive awareness on water wastage. Today we continue with the help of private corporations to encourage the population to be consciously aware of how they use this precious resource. This is a serious issue that requires every individual to participate and pledge to reduce water wastes and save water for a better tomorrow."

Water saving tips were also reviewed during the press conference such as closing the water tap while brushing one’s teeth, taking shorter showers, and fixing leaky faucets.

MOWE in collaboration with Ariel & LG have developed a 20-second educational TV ads as well as a website to reach consumers in Saudi Arabia, in order to communicate and raise awareness on the importance of water saving. The 'Saudi Water Savers' website drives users to pledge and commit to saving water via changing simple household tasks. With tips on saving water and connectivity to the most popular social networks, facebook and twitter, users can share instantly with their friends and family.

Saving as much as possible

The 'Saudi Water Savers' website is very easy to use; once you open the website, you may click on the pledge’s icon in the tool bar and it will direct you to the pledges page which allows you to pick the city you’re pledging for. The pages are designed in a way that will guide everyone smoothly from beginning to end. Once done, the amount of water you have saved will be calculated and the results will be shown.

Ahmed al-Shugairi, an inspiring Saudi media icon known for sharing his ideas and thoughts with the whole Muslim and Arab world via the popular MBC TV show, Khawater, now at its 6th season, has volunteered to be a key spokesperson in the campaign and help raise awareness on the value of this precious resource via press articles.

He is also playing an active role in encouraging Saudis to take a pledge on the 'Saudi Water Savers' website. A good example would be performing ablution, which al-Shugairi thinks everyone can manage without wasting a huge amount of water. "You can easily save 5 to 6 liters of water during ablution if you don’t keep the tap open all the time. This also applies to other household tasks," said Ahmad al-Shugairi.

LG Retail Manager Riyadh Alokran told the press conference that “the aim of the campaign is to raise awareness and educate the public, especially Saudi Arabia’s housewives, to understand the seriousness of unnecessary water consumption. The ladies in Saudi Arabia should start thinking of water wastage every time they load their washing machine, and think how much they can conserve. If only 10% of Saudi housewives switched from a top loading washing machine to a front loading automatic washing machine , it would save the kingdom 4 billion litres of water every month."

Best results

Ariel and LG have both developed products designed to achieve the best results in the washing process whilst saving water. Ariel’s green pack, designed for all automatic washing machines is 3X stronger on stains vs. other detergents for top loading washing machines, making it possible to have superior clean clothes in one wash vs. 3 washes, and hence saving water, time and money. LG’s front loading automatic washing machines feature a titled drum that allows water to be swished around. The direct driver motor powering the drum also senses the capacity of the wash load and automatically selects the optimum water level wash and time needed. Semi-automatic top loading machines require the same water every time and do not have the intelligence to identify the volume of the load being washed.

Sayidaty magazine, Axiom Telecom and Al Safa water, which is also known as Makkah water, are also supporting partners for 'Saudi Water Savers' campaign, driving the reach and raising the awareness on the importance of smart water use. Partners are playing a significant role in this campaign, for example, Sayidaty is having a weekly page on water issues in the region and the campaign, as well as a discussion page on their website in which everyone can participate.

Axiom Telecom is also supporting the cause via promoting the message within their stores across KSA and on their interactive website. Al Safa water has contributed half a million bottles of water with the campaign message on its label to be sampled to consumers in malls and public places via promoters using unique tools, such as segways, adwalks and portable TV screens during the course of the campaign. Usage of water bottles as a means for communication helps drive the emotional connection between the value of water and the importance of saving this scarce resource.