The world's largest underground reservoir has been built in Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi has completed a project that is changing the way we think about combating desert drought. The world's largest strategic underground reservoir has been built beneath the dunes of the Liwa Desert. It can supply the entire emirate with water for 90 days. By comparison, the previous reservoir lasted only about two days.

The technology used is cutting-edge – Aquifer Storage and Recovery. High-quality desalinated water is pumped deep underground, protected from evaporation and external factors. There are no open tanks in the blazing sun, no loss. The water waits its time in the subsurface, remaining clean and ready for use.

The project's figures are impressive. 315 strategic wells with a daily production capacity of up to 100 million liters. The total storage capacity is 26 billion liters (or 26 million cubic meters) of the highest-quality water. The cost is 1,61 billion dirhams, or approximately $435 million.

The UAE, renowned for its oil wealth, has placed its bets on water. And this isn't just an infrastructure project. It's a matter of survival in a region where fresh water is a more valuable resource than hydrocarbons. The emirate, which previously relied on desalination and imports, now has a strategic underground reservoir.

Comments

[Scharnhorst]

If our oligarchs had free rein, they would have sold and pumped out Lake Baikal...

[al3x]

They're not going to let it slide; it's just a matter of time before the pipeline to China is built. There have already been attempts. So far, it's been unsuccessful, but the time will come when they'll lobby for it.

[Andobor]

The barrel in the picture is irrelevant; the reservoir was created in natural porous strata, similar to a UGS facility – an underground gas storage facility. Incidentally, there are no UGS facilities in the Emirates, which creates major problems for them.

[Laksamana besar]

In this case, the reservoirs are connected to the city networks.

[Sergey3]

Only the barrel in the picture has nothing to do with it.

And in general, the era of such barrels is over; they will continue to burn them even when the war is over.

[Alexander X]

An absolutely correct decision. Especially now, when, as the tragic experience of recent military events shows, only underground structures can protect against drone and missile strikes.

[topol717]

Quote: Alexander X

Absolutely the right decision.

We'll find out soon whether it's true or not. If they start using it. The earth moves, and no one knows for sure what will appear there besides water in three or five years. If they couldn't pump water from underground for the last 30 years, what happened that they can now pump it?

[alexboguslavski]

It's a matter of survival in a region where fresh water is a more valuable resource than hydrocarbons. The emirate, which previously relied on desalination and imports, is now has a strategic "piggy bank" underground.

The piggy bank will remain a piggy bank if the above-ground infrastructure is demolished.

[Andobor]

Quote: alexboguslavski

if the ground infrastructure is demolished

If safety is taken into account, it will be difficult to demolish the ground infrastructure, and 315 wells per pipeline cannot be closed.

[Roust]

What will happen in 90 days?

[Jacques sekavar]

This is nothing compared to the seas of fresh water beneath the sands of the Sahara and a strategic target for Iran.