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All participants successfully completed the RO Level 2 Seawater Reverse Osmosis System Operation & Features of Optimum Design, which took place at MEDRC Headquarters in Muscat. The course started on the 19th of September with 4 participants from the West Bank and 5 participants from Jordan and ended with an exam on the 22nd of September. During the course the participants learned necessary skills to improve maintenance operations on plants and were also introduced to a special program to support their newly learned skills. READ MORE
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LocalNews
BP Oman, INJAZ pact to benefit 30,000 Omanis
The partnership of BP Oman and INJAZ Oman is set to usher in a new era of socio-economic contribution under a recent renewal agreement. Reiterating their sturdy commitment towards the youth, entrepreneurs, women and students, the pact extends the firms’ three year collaboration on an array of initiatives, fostering in-country value through education and training for over 30,000 Omanis to date. READ MORE
Oman: Falling Walls Lab for young researchers
The Research Council TRC Oman is hosting a Falling Walls Lab in October 4th, 2016 in Grand Millennium (Muscat). It is an outstanding forum for aspiring scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to share their innovative ideas, business models and social initiatives with an interdisciplinary audience and a distinguished jury - in 3 minutes each. Applications are open up to October 10th, 2016. READ MORE
Oman announces tenders on desalination
The Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) has announced a tender to provide “Technical Advisory Services” for its plans to increase water and power supply. The project covers the contracting of future power and related water capacity, tied in with a broader push in the country to secure supplies by 2022. READ MORE
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RegionalNews
Saudi Arabia: New Desalination Technology Opens Doors to Higher Worldwide Clean Water Sources Worldwide first and largest seawater desalination and cooling plant has been opened in Solar Village nearby Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The state of the art system - Adsorption Desalination and Cooling (ADC) - is due to be used commercially in Saudi Arabia and other regions in the near future as the project triggers interest of governmental institutions worldwide. READ MORE
Syria: Water supplies deteriorating fast due to conflict
Lack of access to safe water in the war-torn country is driving migration and disease and pollution, say hydrologists and humanitarian groups. According to the UN refugee agency, 6.6 million people have been displaced internally in Syria due to the war and around 4.3 million people have fled to Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Europe in the last six years. READ MORE
Lebanon: Dutch mission assesses water projects
A team of Dutch water management experts concluded a weeklong fact-finding mission to Lebanon last August to find and assess potential projects to improve management of the vital commodity. The delegation came as one of the first steps in an 86 million euro ($96 million) Dutch aid package for Lebanon, of which 15 million will be allocated to improving water resource management and agricultural practices. READ MORE
Jordan: Ministry ends large-scale water theft in Jordan Valley
Water theft is recognized as an economic crime under articles 3 and 4 of the Economic Crime Law. Currently, courts are looking into more than 1,000 cases of violations involving water resources and networks, according to the Jordanian ministry. READ MORE
Jordan: The Second Franco Jordanian forum on Water Sustainability October 17, 2016
Jordan has many projects in the pipeline for the coming 3 years representing a total amount of two billion Euros. These include the Mega projects such as the “Red Sea to Dead Sea Project“. It is worth mentioning that French companies are very active in the water sector in Jordan. The Franco Jordanian Chamber of Commerce (CAFRAJ) orgnises the Second Franco Jordanian Forum on Water sustainability on the 17th of October 2016 in Amman. READ MORE
Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan sign final contracts on Nile dam studies
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have signed the final contracts for the long-awaited technical studies on the impact on downstream countries of a giant dam that Addis Ababa is building. The signing that took place in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on September 19th was made with French consultancy firms BRL and Artelia, as well as British law firm Corbett, which will carry out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile. READ MORE
Egypt: Metito Case Study ‘Seawater Desalination Plant, Sharm El-Sheik’
Nabq Bay, has been undergoing development since 1998 with 5-star rated hotels & resorts stretched alongside its coast. These resorts model environmental conservation, cultural preservation, design creativity, and beauty and diversity of entertainment. To serve the water needs for this area a sustainable solution was therefore required and establishing the Nabq Bay desalination plant was the ultimate solution. READ MORE
Egypt: Luxor imposes EGP 1,000 fine for wasting drinking water
Luxor governorate will impose a fine of EGP 1,000 on anyone excessively using drinking water for other purposes and wasting it, according to Luxor governor Mohamed Badr. In August, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aaty said that Egypt is facing a crisis in the form of water shortage. He added that this problem is not a result of the construction of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), but rather a result of the increasing population. READ MORE
Tunisia water shortages spark 'thirst uprising' warning
Activists are warning of a potential "thirst uprising" in Tunisia following protests over severe water shortages after one of the North African nation's driest summers on record. Residents in the interior are suffering long water supply cuts, reservoirs are running dry and farmers are seeing significant losses, adding to social tensions in a country still struggling with instability since its 2011 revolution. READ MORE
Tunisia begins discussions for accession to UNECE Water Convention
Tunisia, on Wednesday, started discussions with the Secretariat of The Water Convention on the possible accession to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Trans-boundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) UNECE adopted in 1992. The convention is a mechanism that promotes international co-operation and strengthens national actions for the sustainable protection and management of groundwater and trans-boundary surface water. READ MORE
Morocco launches its Mediterranean project of sea water desalination
The Procurement & Markets Division at the Water Branch of the National Office for Electricity and Potable Water (ONEE) has just launched, under the Purchasing settlement of ONEE, a tender related to the strengthening of the drinking water supply of the Mediterranean city of Al Hoceima (North of Morocco) by means of seawater desalination. Note that the estimated cost of benefits is amounted to 239.4 million dirhams. READ MORE
Morocco: EIB climate action conference stresses need for concrete projects in the Mediterranean
The EIB has organised an international conference in Rabat, Morocco, entirely devoted to climate action in the region, in partnership with the Moroccan government and the Union for the Mediterranean. All the participants agreed on the increasing and necessary role that the private sector has to play in climate action. READ MORE
Nile Riparian States representatives discuss Nile Basin challenges in China
The Water and Sanitation Training Program 2016, organized by the Center of Excellence for Water and Environment - Chinese Academy of Sciences (CEWE – CAS) in Beijing, China during the period August 30th – September 13rd, was a good occasion for the participants from Nile riparian states to be engaged in open discussion on different issues related to the Nile River Basin. READ MORE
Water Scarcity: Cooperation or Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa?
More than any other region, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is plagued by instability and conflict. Conflict has traditionally been caused by political, military, ethnic and religious issues, but, in an increasingly complex world, potential causes of insecurity have widened and diversified considerably. READ MORE
Veolia shifts towards circular economy in the Middle East
Veolia has been adapting its business activities to move from an approach based on resource consumption to one of using and recovering resources in accordance with the principles of circular economy, says Xavier Joseph, CEO of Veolia, Middle East. “Sustainability is in the DNA of Veolia. It encompasses all that we do – providing access to resources, protecting and generating resources for generations to come.” READ MORE
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InternationalNews
China: CEWE 2016 Water and Sanitation Training Program
CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Water and Environment” (CAS-TWAS CEWE) established in the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has organized its water and sanitation training program during the period August 30th – September 13rd in Beijing and Yixing (China) with the participation of representatives from 22 African and Asian developing countries. READ MORE
EU must do more to safeguard surface water
EU lawmakers should do more to protect surface water sources from contamination. This is vital for ensuring a supply of clean and safe drinking water for us now and in the future. Water operators strive to provide this much-needed protection, but we urgently need robust EU legislation to preserve water sources and ensure the effective implementation of the Water Framework Directive. READ MORE
Malaysia looks to PPP to develop new desalination plant
The proposed site for the desalination plant is in Forest City, Johor. The state, in southern Malaysia, is connected to Singapore by causeways. Johor is one of the fastest growing states in Malaysia, generating gross domestic product growth of 6.1 per cent on average in each of the years from 2011 to 2014, higher than Malaysia's national average of 5.4 per cent. READ MORE
Using less water could cause more harm than good
The water crisis is a global issue but it will only be solved through local action. Carbon has received the bulk of corporate focus for the past few years but water is equally critical to the climate change debate. Unlike carbon, water is unique in that globally it is a renewable resource but locally it can act as a non-renewable resource. READ MORE
Sustainability in the pipeline: securing water and sanitation for the future
Can access to water and sanitation be secured now for future generations? We don’t have a choice; sustainability must be at the heart of all efforts to deliver these services. This was the central message of a panel discussion hosted by the Guardian at the annual World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden. READ MORE
Review of monitoring methodologies for SDG 6 global indicators
In approaching the 2030 Agenda with a dedicated goal on water and sanitation, it was recognized that the sector at large would require a coherent monitoring framework, with improved data collection and analysis, covering the whole water cycle. To meet this need, a number of United Nations agencies joined forces under the UN-Water umbrella to develop the Integrated Monitoring of Water and Sanitation Related SDG Targets (GEMI) initiative. READ MORE
Promoting the integrated monitoring of SDG 6 (GEMI)
From 7 to 9 September, UNESCO-IHE hosted the Work in Progress Workshop for the monitoring of the Water SDGs, within the framework of GEMI. The workshop was organized by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment, supported by UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE, and the Netherlands and German IHP-HWRP Committees. READ MORE
How can we better value water as global shortages start to threaten economies?
Water is essential for life, whether to irrigate crops, to manufacture goods, or for drinking, washing and cleaning. But the intensification of climate change, a growing population and increasing demands from cities, agriculture and industry – coupled with poor water governance – is driving acute water shortages around the world. READ MORE
Desalinated Sea Water Linked to Iodine Deficiency Disorders
An estimated 300 million people worldwide rely on over 17,000 desalination plants in 150 countries for water, and the numbers are likely to grow. A lack of naturally occurring iodine in desalinated water could lead to thyroid gland diseases, research from the Hebrew University (HU) of Jerusalem has said. Dr. Aron Troen from HU’s institute of biochemistry, food science and nutrition led a study that assessed the connection between iodine intake and thyroid function in a region where drinking water is supplied from desalinated water. READ MORE
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AWARDS & VACANCIES
Graphene prize goes to PhD whizz
Sebastian Leaper, studying at the University of Manchester, has been announced as the winner of the £50,000 award which is now in its third year. This innovative PhD student is forging a new application for graphene after winning the Eli and Britt Harari Graphene Enterprise Award 2016. READ MORE
Postdoc position advanced and sustainable membranes from responsive polymers
Within the Membrane Science & Technology cluster of the University of Twente, The Netherlands a vacancy is offered for a 3-year postdoc position on: Advanced and Sustainable Membranes from Responsive Polymers. The deadline for applications is November 1, 2016. READ MORE
Research Associate in Sanitation and Water
A good opportunity to undertake innovative research on sanitation and water in developing countries at the internationally renowned WEDC (Water Engineering and Development Centre). The role will include supporting and managing assessments and research on the sustainability aspects of the DFID funded South Asia rural WASH results project. Application closing date: 13 October 13, 2016. READ MORE
IDA Fellowship partners with PUB to offer desal or reuse opportunity
Singapore's national water agency PUB is to host the IDA Fellowship Programme for 2016-17, with the selected individual offered an opportunity in either desalination or reuse for the first time. It is offering the chance to contribute to research on either desalination or reuse, or alternatively to fulfil an operational or maintenance role at reuse plant, NEWater Factory, in Singapore, for four to six weeks. The deadline for submissions is October 13, 2016. READ MORE
The call for the Global Young Academy (GYA) membership from 2017 is now open
You believe that science & research can change world for the better? Applications for membership at the Global Young Academy are open. The deadline for application is extended until October 6, 2016. READ MORE
Call for Applications - Enhancing the Capacity of Young Arab Scientists in Agricultural Research for Development: ICARDA - the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, with support from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), offers opportunities to Arab students enrolled in Masters or PhD degrees within an university in the Arab world to strengthen their research skills. Closing date September 30, 2016. READ MORE
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PUBLICATIONS
- UN Climate Change Climate Action : The high level climate champions, Ms. Laurence Tubiana, French Ambassador for Climate Change and Ms. Hakima El Haite, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment of Morocco, in charge of the Environment, have prepared a synthesis report on the submissions received in response to the invitation they published with their road map for global climate action. READ MORE
- RKNOW Knowledge Book: Interesting collection of knowledge produced by Regional Knowledge Network on Water - RKNOW about water, energy, food and climate change in the WANA region! Foreword by HRH Prince Hassan bin Talal. READ MORE
- EIP-AGRI Focus Group on Water and Agriculture: Final report: To counteract the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture due to water scarcity, management strategies at farm level need to be identified. READ MORE
- Transboundary Water Management and the Climate Change Debate – Water Book of the Year 2015: During the World Water Week in Stockholm, Transboundary Water Management and the Climate Change Debate has been announced to be the International Water Resources Book of the Year 2015. READ MORE
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TRAINING
- International Water Law and the Law of Transboundary Aquifers - Distance Learning, 19th of September till the 11th of December, 2016. READ MORE
- MEDRC RO Level 2: Seawater Reverse Osmosis System Design. 24th-27th of October, 2016. Muscat, Oman. READ MORE
- Master Course: Hydrology & Water Footprint Assessment, University of Twente, The Netherlands, 5th of September till the 11th of November, 2016. READ MORE
- Apply now for #fellowships NFP/MSP Short Courses for Water Professionals from NFP/MSP countries. Deadline: 30th of September, 2016. READ MORE
- MEDRC RO Level 1: Seawater Reverse Osmosis Operation, Monitoring & Troubleshooting, Hands On. 7th-10th of November, 2016. Muscat, Oman. READ MORE
- MEDRC RO Level 2: Process Analysis Laboratory Course, Hands On. 21st-22nd of November, 2016. Muscat, Oman. READ MORE
- MEDRC RO Level 2: RO Membrane Chemical Cleaning, Hands On. 23rd-24th of November, 2016. Muscat, Oman. READ MORE
- Global Water Footprint Standard Training Course. 23rd-24th of November, 2016. READ MORE
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UPCOMING EVENTS
- Oman: Falling Walls Lab for young researchers, 4th of October, 2016. Muscat, Oman. READ MORE
- Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition (WETEX), 4th-6th of October, 2016. Dubai, UAE. READ MORE
- International Conference on Solar Energy for Buildings and Industry, 11th-14th of October, 2016. Palma de Mallorca, Spain. READ MORE
- 9th International Scientific Conference on Energy and Climate Change: 12th-14th of October 2016. Athens, Greece. READ MORE
- Second Franco Jordanian forum on Water Sustainability, 17th of October 2016. Amman, Jordan. READ MORE
- XI International Congress of Spanish Association of Desalination & Reuse, 19th-21st of October 2016. Valencia, Spain. READ MORE
- 2nd ICIEM 2016 — International Conference on Integrated Environmental Management for Sustainable Development, 27th-30th of October 2016. Sousse, Tunisia. READ MORE
- 16th Aachener Membran Kolloquium, 2nd-3rd of November 2016. Aachen, Germany. READ MORE
- International Agriculture & Water Technology Exhibition & Conference, 7th-9th of November 2016. Seville, Spain. READ MORE
- International Symposium on climate change: new approaches, new technologies, new opportunities, involvement of African competencies, 8th-12th of November 2016. Marrakech, Morocco. READ MORE
- The 9th International Desalination Workshop, 13th-15th of November 2016. Abu Dhabi, UAE. READ MORE
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TENDERS & PROPOSALS
- Securing Water for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development Announces Fourth Call for Innovations. Applications will be accepted until the 10th of October 2016. READ MORE
- UK-GCC call for projects: Institutional Links aims to build UK-partner country research and innovation collaborations centred on shared research and innovation challenges which have direct relevance to social welfare and economic development. Deadline extended to the 7th of October 2016. READ MORE
- Imagine H2O launches water data innovation competition: Imagine H2O (IH2O), the water innovation accelerator, today announced its second annual California Water Policy Challenge. READ MORE
- Veolia is looking for: innovative, cost-effective and low-maintenance solutions able to provide on-line measurement of hydrocarbons, oils or metals in wastewater (network) or indirect evaluation of the variation of its quality. Deadline is on the 15th of November 2106. READ MORE
- Call for proposals for Study of Socio-Economic Impacts of Solar Pumping Systems in Terms of Local Job and Value Creation in Egypt: According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt plans to increase its agricultural production level by reclaiming 1.5 million acres of desert land by 2017 and another 3 million acres by 2030. READ MORE
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