Today's Edition
SARA ALZAABI / WAM (ABU DHABI)
The second edition of the Water Quality Forum (WQF) 2025 kicked off Wednesday in Abu Dhabi under the theme “Innovating for Resilience: Water Quality in a Changing World.”
Organised by M42 Environmental Sciences in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (ADQCC), the event serves as a platform to advance resilience, quality and safety of water in the region.
Ahmed Mohammed Al Rumaithi, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Energy, emphasised that the UAE’s water management strategy aims to ensure a sustainable future for coming generations. Environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources are core priorities in the country’s sustainability journey, he said.
Al Rumaithi noted that the Department of Energy works to protect and sustain water resources in ways that support economic growth and environmental preservation. He underlined the strong interconnection between water and energy systems, stressing the need to leverage this linkage daily to enhance sustainability and efficiency in managing vital resources.
Albarah El-Khani, Chief Operating Officer of M42 Integrated Healthcare Solutions, said the UAE links water directly to health, considering wastewater as a source of data and an early warning system.
Speaking to Aletihad, he said water challenges are not only about availability but also about their wider socioeconomic impact.
“It is more about the health impact and the social and economic impact of water scarcity and water quality globally. From pathogens to heavy metals and other elements discovered in our water, we need to make sure it’s safe for consumption,” he said.
El-Khani explained that advanced laboratories and artificial intelligence are employed to detect pathogens and pollutants before they spread, transforming data into reliable systems that build public trust. This approach, he stressed, shifts water management from reaction to prevention.
Tackling a Global Challenge
The Water Quality Forum gathers utilities, regulators, municipalities, academia and the private sector to develop early warning systems, build credible scientific regulations, and strengthen capacities to ensure the continuity of knowledge and resilience across generations, El-Khani said.
“Bringing government stakeholders and industry partners together to address a collective global issue is the first step to tackling what we believe is a critical aspect of not just water scarcity, but also water stress,” he told Aletihad.
Fahad Gharib Al Shamsi, Acting Secretary-General of the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council, is confident that this year’s forum will yield high-impact results.
“We have experts specialising in solutions to the challenges facing the world with regard to water. This is not just a problem for Abu Dhabi, but a global problem today. [The emirate seeks to] find the best solutions to these challenges at the end of the forum,” Al Shamsi told Aletihad.
