Spanish infrastructure major Acciona is at the ongoing IDA World Congress in Dubai to discuss the major challenges being faced by the desalination and water reuse industry.

IDA World Congress, which kicked off yesterday (October 20), will see Acciona take part in the event in a big way offering visitors the opportunity to hear about the desalination projects it has been working on over the past year.

As a key sponsor of the 1st IDA Forum of Women Leaders in the Water Industry, Acciona will have high-level participation through its delegates at this world congress on desalination and water reuse.

The company will also take part in an expert panel session, together with global water industry leaders, that will look at the latest projects that public service companies are working on, as a way of proactively examining the challenges facing the sector, as well as ways of ensuring sustainable water supplies in a context of population growth and climate change.

Acciona will also be involved in a panel organised by the Spanish Water Desalination and Reuse Association (AEDYR) about the water sector in Spain.

Acciona's Managing Director (Water Business) José Diaz-Caneja will be moderating one of the most important panels at the congress.

As part of the Water Leaders group, he will analyse the water challenges in the public sector and will also take part in the round table session “Survival or Sustainability: The Role of Advanced Water Treatment Solutions”.  

Jorge Malfeito, head of R&D+i in Acciona’s water business, and Olga Ferrer, head of desalination R&D+i from the same business, will respectively give talks on “Decision support system for optimising multi-process wastewater treatment plants in the oil and gas sector” and “Nutrient deprivation for seawater reverse osmosis membrane biofouling reduction”.

Malfeito will also team up with the European Desalination Association (EDS) on a panel that will analyse European water treatment projects.

O&M Manager at the Adelaide desalination plant, Javier Artal, and Plant Manager Rimon Gerway, will tackle the subject “From mineral recovery to remineralisation”, while Jesús Ortiz, Business Development Department Manager for Acciona in the Middle East, will give a talk entitled “4th Revolution. Smart Water Treatment Facilities: From Tomorrow’s Future to Today’s Reality”.

Julio Ratia, the desalination manager for the Middle East, and Oscar Calles, the manager of the Fujairah F1 desalination plant, will discuss the operation of this plant in their talk “Fujairah F1 SWRO Expansion: 3 years of Acciona O&M experience.”

Lastly, Elena Reyna, Marketing and Communications Manager from Acciona’s water business, will take part in a round table organised by AEDYR that will discuss the water sector in Spain and its challenges.

It will also look at issues such as the success of the Spanish industry, the strengths and weaknesses of the sector, desalination for agriculture in Spain, the challenges of reuse in Europe, communication and public awareness, the impact of the economic crisis on project financing, and the role of women in the industry, among others.

A multitude of technical sessions, conferences, round tables, workshops and interactive sessions will be held over the five days of the IDA, which will bring together the most important leaders from the global desalination sector.-TradeArabia News Service