Recycling and judicious reuse of treated wastewater offer a chance to meet development goals of arid regions such as the UAE while reducing energy, carbon, and environmental footprint, said an expert.

Dr Farrukh Ahmad, associate professor, Water & Environmental Engineering, Masdar Institute, was speaking at a workshop titled The role of Water Recycling and Water Re-Use in Arid Regions for Mitigating Water Scarcity at the World Future Energy Summit 2013 that is being held from January 15-17 at the Abu Dhabi national Exhibition Center.

The event is part of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2013.

“Water reuse is a topic of critical importance to arid regions such as the UAE and the GCC, where there is little freshwater supply. Most of the water is reclaimed from the sea through desalination processes at a high energy, carbon, and environmental penalty,” said Dr Ahmad.

“Better techniques for monitoring reuse water quality can ensure the health of the local population. At the same time, better technologies for producing high quality water from wastewater treatment can bring intellectual capital to the region.”

Over the past year, Dr Ahmad’s research group has worked with the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company’s (ADSSC) Mafraq Waste Water (Sewage) Treatment Plant to conduct a year-round disinfection byproduct (DBP) characterization of their treated effluent and its risk evaluation in landscaping irrigation reuse.

The study is already accepted for publication in the Journal of Water Reuse and Desalination, a peer-reviewed journal from IWA Publishing. It is scheduled for publication this year.

In addition, researchers from Masdar Institute are working with Mafraq WWTP to develop DNA-based pathogen detection methods and test them side-by-side with conventional microbiological methods utilized by the treatment plant. A third research project in the water reuse area focuses on developing technologies to remove micro-pollutants from treated wastewater.

Masdar Institute has already filed a technology disclosure in the US for new carbon nanotube - photocatalyst membranes that can bind organic micropollutants. These membranes can then be regenerated/renewed using photocatalytic activity.

Apart from the workshop on water recycling and re-use, a dedicated Masdar Institute stand is displaying the key water-related research projects, underscoring the importance of the first inaugural International Water Summit at ADSW 2013. – TradeArabia News Service