Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said it has registered a 30 per cent increase in water connections for 2014 compared to the previous year.

Last year, the Dubai utility had recorded 6,950 new connections thus taking the total to 30,300, compared with 23,350 in 2013.

The increase in demand for water was led by new developments and growth across all sectors of the national economy. These included construction, economic, industrial, and service projects, stated Dewa in a statement.

Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and chief executive officer, said: "Dewa works according to its strategy, which is a key component of the Dubai Plan 2021. The objective is to establish Dubai’s leading regional position as a role model for the efficiency and effectiveness of electricity and water infrastructure that meet current and future requirements of all aspects of the emirate’s development."

"Our strategy is to enhance the efficiency and reliability of the water network to meet growing demand, increase water flow to fulfil increasing demand for water in all parts of Dubai and raise the volume of the emirate’s water reserves," he added.

Dewa, he said, always keeps a surplus that is used as a reserve. Its current installed capacity is 470 million imperial gallons of desalinated water per day.

The peak demand is 316 million imperial gallons per day, he added.-TradeArabia News Service