Under the patronage of Prof. Abdullah Zaghloul – Head of the Desert Research Center, the Desert Research Center organized a scientific day to conclude the scientific project “An integrated smart system of ultrafiltration, photocatalysis and thermal desalination for wastewater treatment”, funded by the Research and Innovation Support and Financing Authority, to present the outputs of the research project in the presence of: Dr. Ahmed Moawad, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Holding Company for Potable Water and Wastewater, Dr. Refaat Abdel Wahab, Director of Research and Development Department at the Holding Company, and representatives of the Eastern Company for Potable Water and Wastewater Health team, members of the research team from the Pre-Dynamic Center, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, England, representatives of the Nuclear Safety Center at the Atomic Energy Commission, and members of the research team at the Desert Research Center.
The head of the Desert Research Center said that in line with the state’s efforts to solve the problems of water sources by paying attention to non-conventional water sources, this project comes to develop solutions for the treatment and reuse of wastewater, which contributes to reducing the gap between water limitation and the increasing demand for water through the reuse of treated water in agriculture.
Prof. Dr. Hossam Shawky – Vice President of the Center for Projects and Director of the Egyptian Center of Excellence for Water Desalination Research said that among the outputs of the project is a compact plant that is the first of its kind in terms of treatment method, as it was manufactured by 90% locally with Egyptian hands and local expertise.
In the same context, Prof. Dr. Abdul Hamid Al-Aasar – the main researcher of the project explained that the most important outputs and achievements of the project were presented, namely: a compact unit for wastewater treatment with a productivity of 20 cubic meters / day suitable in remote areas, hotels and factories to save financial resources at a rate of 80:90%, a photoreactor to treat organic and bacterial pollutants from wastewater, and a membrane distillation unit with a productivity of 5 cubic meters / day, which can be used to desalinate treated wastewater and can also be used in remote areas of companies Petroleum for the treatment, desalination and reuse of water associated with petroleum, and a device for the production of polymeric fibers, which is the first local manufacturing device for those types of ultrafiltration membranes on a semi-industrial scale, and an environmental study for Sharkia Governorate to clarify the efficiency of groundwater and the extent of its vulnerability to water, and 7 research papers have been published in international journals with an impact factor and 3 patents are being registered from the outputs of the project