Researchers Receive US-AID MERC Grant for Water Purification Project with the Palestinian Authority
Researchers Receive US-AID MERC Grant for Water Purification Project with the Palestinian Authority
August 13, 2010
BEER-SHEVA, ISRAEL, August 13, 2010 — Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s (BGU) Dr. Moshe Herzberg and Prof. Mohammed Saleem Ali-Shtayeh of the Biodiversity and Environmental Research Center (BERC) in Nablus received a significant grant to increase the clean water supply around Israel and the Middle East. This study brings together Israelis and Palestinians to address clean water issues in the West Bank area of Nablus over a five-year period.
The US-AID MERC grant for $659,410 will address biofouling of Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes during reclamation of secondary wastewater. Reverse Osmosis membrane filtration is normally used for desalination and reclamation of secondary effluents, removing organics and undesired salts from water. The grant project, “Reclamation of Secondary Effluents with Reverse Osmosis Membranes (RO): Fouling Mechanisms and Control,” will focus on the mechanisms by which microbial biofilm formation on RO membranes (“biofouling”) impacts the decrease in membrane performance. It will also suggest novel ways to mitigate biofouling and clean biofouled membranes.
According to Dr. Herzberg, “These techniques can be applied to increase access to clean water supply in the Middle East, especially in the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Purified secondary wastewater is an immediate resource for irrigation and after RO filtration those waters can be used indirectly for drinking.”
The researchers, Dr. Moshe Herzberg (BGU), Dr. Osnat Gillor (BGU), Prof. Mohammed Saleem Ali-Shtayeh (BERC) and Dr. Helen Thanh Nguyen, a grant advisor and assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, are planning to characterize and eventually find novel ways to eradicate different biofilms grown on RO membranes. Biofilm characterization will include adhesion properties, microbial community structure, growth kinetics and chemical structure.
Drs. Moshe Herzberg and Osnat Gillor are both researchers at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research which is part of BGU’s Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
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20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
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