RAS AL KHAIMAH // Ahmed Jumah, from the mountain village of Munai, did not know there was a problem with his tap water until he failed a military test and lost a scholarship to train in the UK at the age of 18.
"I had a pain like fire inside but I didn't know what it was," said Mr Jumah, now 29, who became a teacher at the local school instead. "But now, khalas, I understand."
Since then, his family has installed a filter for water used in cooking, cleaning and washing. They drink bottled water.
Mr Jumah said his kidney problems had disappeared, although he had not been told that by a doctor.
Many communities in what may be the poorest area of the country, the mountain villages of Ras Al Khaimah, say they have only had a steady supply of drinking water for three or four years.
Most continue to rely on tankers and bottled water for their drinking needs, and use tap water for washing and cooking.
Mr Jumah showed why that was when he demonstrated how the filter is changed.
"See how it is different," he said, placing the used, dark-orange filter next to a new white one. "This is all from the salt inside the water."
Mr Jumah said about half of the households in the village had water filters.
Among those who do not is Umm Abdullah Al Dhammani, a grandmother aged about 50.
Her family of 14 uses four or five large water bottles each week for drinking. The rest is delivered by tanker once a week in winter and twice a week in summer.
"We are not sure if it is healthy to drink," said her daughter-in-law, Umm Mohammed. "It is not the same taste all the time … what to do, we do not have another option."
But Umm Abdullah said the system was an improvement to several decades ago when the village's water was obtained from a mechanised well.
Last month, The National analysed a sample of the water in Mr Jumah's house through a Dubai laboratory.
The analysis showed the sample was well within the standards for drinking water set by the World Health Organisation.
"It is suitable for drinking," said Prof Mona Al Rukhaimi, a consultant physician and nephrologist, or kidney specialist, based in Dubai and the president of the Emirates Medical Association Nephrology Society.
Prof Al Rukhaimi said she advised people to continue using filters to remove harmful bacteria that may build up in water tanks.
Despite repeated requests, the Federal Electricity and Water Authority, which is responsible for water services in RAK, would not comment on how Munai's tap water is produced.
But a desalination expert who looked at the laboratory test results said the water was similar to desalinated water, as it was very low in minerals and trace metals.
Nearby villages already receive their water from a desalination plant in Fujairah.
The project has ensured a steady water supply that was not always there previously.
This was the case in the village of Showka.
"Three or four years ago we had a little water," said Mussabah Saif, the head of a household of 20. "It was from wells and from tankers. But now everything's fine."
The family relies almost entirely on tap water, which they filter.
"We drink from it, we eat from it, we wash from it, we bathe from it," said Mr Saif, 53. "It's for everything and it all comes from the sea.
"Before, the water was found under the ground, but after pumps came the water level got lower and lower and lower. When pumps came, water disappeared. Now most people get the water from the Government."
In the village of Al Qor, in the mountain passage of Wadi Al Qor, water supply has been regular for three or four years, said the resident Rashed Mohammed.
Mr Mohammed uses the tap water for washing clothes, cooking, and making bread, tea and coffee. Most of the water he drinks is bottled.
"We're happy with all of this, water, electricity, new roads," he said. "All of this is from the sheikh, our Ruler."
azacharias@thenational.ae
