This month, representatives from the Egyptian government and water industry visited the DuPont Global Water Technology Center to find out more about how the company’s state-of-the-art technology, solutions and expert team is helping tackle water scarcity.
The Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, H.E. Dr Assem El Gazzar, his deputy Dr Sayed Ismail and Mr Mohamed Essam Minister assistant, accompanied by Tarek Waly (MENA Channels and Distribution Manager), attended meetings at DuPont’s Global Water Technology Center to learn how advanced membrane chemistry and new technology applications could help the government achieve its goal of increasing water resources through wastewater recycling.
They were joined by General Ihab Khedr (Chairman of NOPWASD) and other representatives of the National Organization for Potable Water & Sanitary Drainage (NOPWASD), an industry body which conducts technical studies, and designs and supervises the implementation of major Water national infrastructure projects.
Mr Hazem Gaber (CEO) and the Mr Hassanen El Mamlouk (GM) represented IETOS, a leading Egyptian company with expertise in water and wastewater treatment for municipal and industrial applications. IETOS and DuPont have collaborated for many years and their joint project for an innovative, modular ultrafiltration plant won the award for Best Disruptive Technology at the 2019 International Desalination Association (IDA) Awards.
In addition to reviewing the latest innovations on Reverse Osmosis, Ultrafiltration solutions were also discussed for high-capacity applications with footprint optimization requirements, including pre-treatment in seawater reverse osmosis desalination and wastewater recycling. The potential for Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology – an advanced wastewater treatment technology that combines an activated sludge system with UF to effectively treat and potentially reuse wastewater – was also reviewed.
Dr Assem El Gazzar quoted that “ Water and land are very rare resources and projects need to maximize the use of those two resources, through the use of more advanced and compact systems similar to what DuPont developed”
The Minister focused on moving the relationship from end user supplier relation to partnership relation, through knowledge transfer and training for the benefit of all parties.
Eduard Gasia (Global Product Line Manager) and Verónica Gómez (Tarragona Site Leader & R&D Manager), said: “By being in close contact with key end-users like Egyptian government and all relevant parties in the value chain, will help us understand the key unmet needs in order to support the Egyptian government in attaining water security objectives through the use of our advanced water treatment solutions and expertise. At our world-leading research and development facility for water technology, we are developing the kind of solutions that will help to create a water optimized world in which we shift our trajectory from water scarcity to water security.”
The Tarragona Global Water Technology Center first opened in June 2011. Designed to facilitate collaboration, the center provides lab and testing environments for use by DuPont scientists and customers. So far, it has successfully delivered more than 20 innovative new products and is now home to more than 40 testing units and 150 separation component test positions, with the ability to draw on three different water sources to simulate a range of different environments.
