Sense and sensibility

Balancing aesthetic and environmental sensibilities is a challenge, but one not shied away from by water feature designers on projects in the GCC.

In a market as competitive as the GCC, a fountain or water feature is the draw card of the outdoor space, the ‘cherry on top' of a development.

A source of life, water unfailingly attracts people and in a hot, dry climate, is an even more potent symbol than usual.

Water is famous for its lasting appeal - not only does it attract people in the first place but also has a strong recall factor, helping to fix a specific location in people's minds.

With its large number of new developments, the GCC has created a wealth of opportunities for water feature designers in recent years.

Notable finished examples in the region include Al Kout Mall by Crystal Fountains in Kuwait and Dubai Marina fountain by Wet Design, while projects currently under construction include the massive Dubai Fountain in Downtown Burj Dubai, also by Wet Design.

But while impressive displays remain in high demand in the GCC, sustainability and water conservation is increasingly becoming more of a concern in water feature design.

Thanks to the introduction of new sustainable guidelines such as Estidama and LEED in the region, there is now more of a focus than ever on avoiding water and energy wastage, say specialist design firms.

"Water conservation is now top of our priorities in terms of design challenges," says Michael Denman, director of overseas operations at water feature specialist Crystal Fountains. "This has happened very fast. While sustainability has been considered and discussed for a long time, we have reached a point where implementation is crucial."

But coming up with a design that is both impressive enough to wow visitors and at the same time simple enough to avoid huge water and energy requirements is a complex task.

"The challenge is to balance sustainability with the desired aesthetic design," says Denman. "With regards to the water usage guidelines for achieving water feature sustainability; no guidelines exist so this is really a blank page where architects and developers are looking at us to provide the solutions."

"It is an enormous challenge to create impressive displays that use minimal water," adds Carlos Gomes Pissarra, CEO of water feature specialist Ghesa. "Water is a precious element that cannot be wasted. It is an environmental crime to design fountains with huge amounts of water in movement and/or in tanks."

Sustainable solutions

The key at the design stage is minimising the volume of water in tanks to reduce water evaporation, say experts.

With the high evaporative loss in the region - the estimated average is one centimetre of water lost per surface area each day - the focus is on creating features that do not have a large surface area directly exposed to the sun, and in minimising the water in movement. There are a number of ways in which this can be done, say designers.

"There are different aesthetics and effects that we can look at," notes Simon Gardiner, design manager at Crystal Fountains. "With different nozzle effects you can find something that produces the desired aesthetic effect using less water. The different effects can mitigate some of the evaporation loss itself. It's not going to stop all of the evaporation, but it will help.

Use of sequencing and fog effects, for example, produce a strong visual effect but without using vast quantities of water.

A second major concern is the source of the water. While pothole water or desalinated water is considered the best quality to use within a fountain as it is the safest for human contact, it is expensive and high in energy usage as the sea water has to go through several stages of filtration to become drinkable.

According to Crystal Fountains, research is under way to use filtered Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) in water features, but it has not yet reached the necessary health and safety standards. While TSE is currently used for irrigation purposes and in water features that do not come into human contact, using TSE in interactive displays is currently said to have a health risk.

Most water features currently use desalinated water, according to experts, and until alternative water solutions are found, the emphasis will be on incorporating design and technology solutions into water features in order to ensure minimal waste.

Technological advances are helping to reduce water consumption and movement in many ways. Strategic programming through operational management helps to reduce the amount of evaporation and the amount of energy needed to power the display. If operational management is efficient, the water displays should be operating at their simplest at times of high evaporation, say experts.

Making greater use of recycling is another water saving technique, says Manoj Mohan, CEO of UAE-based water feature design company Ripples.

"We are not wasting water in our displays because we are filtering the water, and with pumps, dry pumps and nozzles the water gets recycled back into the feature," he says.

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