Representatives from the Egyptian government and water industry visited the DuPont Global Water Technology Centre in Tarragona in October 2022 to hear how the company’s technology, solutions and expert team was helping to tackle water security. The centre, first opened in June 2011, is designed to facilitate collaboration, and provides lab and testing environments for DuPont scientists and customers.
The Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Dr Assem el Gazzar, his deputy Dr Sayed Ismail and Mohamed Essam, the minister assistant, accompanied by Tarek Waly, channels and distribution manager, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), DuPont, attended meetings at DuPont’s Global Water Technology Centre 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 Ihab Khedr, chairman of the National Organisation for Potable Water & Sanitary Drainage (NOPWASD) and other representatives from the organisation. NOPWASD is an industry body which conducts technical studies, as well as designs and supervises the implementation of major national water infrastructure projects. Hazem Gaber, CEO of The Integrated Environment Technologies (IETOS), and Hassanen El Mamlouk, general manager of IETOS, were also in attendance. IETOS is an Egyptian company with expertise in water and wastewater treatment for municipal and industrial applications. IETOS and DuPont are long-time collaborators and their joint project for a 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 applications with footprint optimisation requirements, including pre-treatment in seawater reverse osmosis desalination and wastewater recycling. The potential for membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology – a wastewater treatment technology that combines an activated sludge system with ultrafiltration to effectively treat and potentially reuse wastewater – was also reviewed.
Dr Assem el Gazzar was quoted as saying: “Water and land are very rare resources and projects need to maximise 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 relations, to partnership relations through knowledge transfer and training for the benefit of all parties.
Eduard Gasia, global product line manager, and Verónica Gómez, site leader and R&D manager, followed up by stating: “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.”
