Water is precious. There was a time when everyone in Saudi Arabia understood this and fostered and cared for a fragile resource in a largely arid country. Now however desalination and waste water recycling, coupled with the greater exploitation of ground water resources, have apparently given the Kingdom abundant water supplies, which everyone can take for granted. This picture, however, is misleading.It is not sufficient to meet ever-growing demand by simply increasing the supply. The fact that the Kingdom is well able to afford new desalination and waste water recycling projects should not blind us to the reality that a key component - demand management - is entirely missing from every water program that has been put forward in recent times.The lack of a policy to control water use has been compounded by a lack of attention to the maintenance of the existing water distribution networks. Thus in major cities, the water supply is fitful and many neighborhoods are forced to rely on water tankers and bottled water.It is therefore encouraging to know that the National Water Company has signed contracts worth SR40 million with specialist private companies to detect leakages in pipework serving 80,000 homes in Riyadh. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they will find many problems, from pipework laid on inadequate or nonexistent bedding, to poor jointing and inadequate pressure levels. The remedial work for this relatively small number of homes in a capital city with a population approaching five million, is likely to be complex and very probably expensive.It is notable that the NWC is also planning to spend over SR9 million modernizing its customer database. Herein lies the principal challenge for demand management. Water supply to customers is not metered. The amount consumers are supposed to pay, bears no relation to the cost of desalination and transport, which in the case of Riyadh involves desalinated water being pumped 467 kilometers from the Gulf. Nor is domestic consumption the major drain on water. Agriculture uses around 88 percent of the total supply and all too often, the irrigation systems are grossly inefficient, allowing the greater part of water applied to crops to evaporate. Industry, though expanding as part of the drive to create a strong non-oil economy, still only accounts for some four percent of all consumption. Because many new manufacturing plants have state-of-the-art equipment, which can recycle fluids used in processes, their water usage is probably the most frugal in the Kingdom. Nevertheless, there is no cost incentive for businesses to make the best use of water.Indeed, until the water demand is managed with higher pricing, it seems unlikely that anyone is going to care about conserving the amount they pour from the faucet. Even if there remains an element of subsidy in the price charged, the cost to users must rise. All consumers have to discipline themselves in the use of this precious resource. It really is no solution to keep fending off a damaging water crisis, by adding yet more supply capacity.