Water as a resource

 

German and Israeli experts are conducting joint work on innovations in water technology. At a conference in Berlin they will be discussing the latest results.

 

It seems so easy: All you need do is turn on the tap, and water flows out. Yet in many regions in the world clean water is scarce, and ensuring its supply often entails high costs and technical requirements. Founded in 1974 and jointly financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Israeli Ministry of Science, Technology, and Space, the German-Israeli Cooperation in Water Technology Research addresses precisely these problems. Both countries boast great expertise in water technology. Israel has gained enormous experience in the re-use of waste water and is a perfect example with regard to efficiency in the use of water, while Germany plays a pioneering role in particular in waste water treatment and energy saving. As such, the two countries are the ideal partner for each other. Since the Cooperation began its work it has launched over 133 research projects. From March 22 to 24 the parties are meeting for a status conference in Berlin.

 

The event will provide an insight into some fascinating examples of research work. Scientists at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Hamburg-Harburg Technical University, for example, are working together on an improved procedure for separating phosphorous from waste water. The element is a key component in fertilisers, and is becoming increasingly scarce worldwide. Under controlled conditions, adding magnesium to dissolved phosphorous enables the latter to be removed from waste water; in the process the mineral struvite is produced, which can be applied directly as a fertiliser. Magnesium, on the other hand, is available as a cheap waste product from the desalination of sea water. It is the ideal combination of two technologies. Other teams are addressing the use of solar energy in the sourcing of drinking water from the sea, and with the purification of waste water and recycling by means of sprinkler irrigation, i.e., by controlled seeping into the ground. The challenges facing the supply of water may well be diverse, but then so too are the potential solutions.