Water project brings Middle East researchers together

The researchers demonstrated the development a plant which will advance the irrigation water balance as well as improve the general environment in the region.

By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
negev water 298 (photo credit: Courtesy)
negev water 298
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A new project aimed at alleviating water scarcity in the Middle East has brought together Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian researchers. Initiated by the British Technion Society, which also raised the funds for the project, and sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development, the project has allowed researchers across the Middle East to work together and ultimately enhance scientific cooperation between Israel and its neighbors. After four years of research, Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian scientists convened last week for a conference at the Technion's Grand Water Research Institute in Haifa to present their findings. The researchers demonstrated the development of a technical basis for the construction and operation of advanced membrane-based wastewater treatment plants. Such plants will advance the irrigation water balance as well as improve the general environment in the region. Involved in the project are the Technion's Grand Water Research Institute; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; the Volcani Institute in Israel; the Palestinian Research Group; Al Quds University in East Jerusalem and the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension in Jordan. "The project has been a complete success and has fostered excellent technical and scientific cooperation among Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli institutes," said project manager Joseph Hagin, professor of the Technion's Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "We are immensely proud to support this essential research into water scarcity, a pressing issue for all countries in the region," Tony Bernstein, executive director of the British Technion Society said. "This project has bridged the political divide and encouraged innovation and cooperation to develop among different peoples of the Middle East. It is yet another example of why the proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions would be so detrimental."