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Research in Texas and Qatar provides water in desert climates
By: Nathan Ball
Issue date: 7/29/08 Section: News
This new technology for purifying drinking water, according to El-Halwagi, "is not only important for the state of Qatar, it is also important for [the United States] and this [Texas]. In Texas, if you are going to grow economically, you have to be able to use lower quality sources of water [in the future.]"
The situation is more urgent in the Middle East. A 2005 Qatar Department of Agriculture and Water report indicated that nearly a third of the 1,285 registered farms have been abandoned because fresh groundwater is being depleted. This was why A&M's research could not come at a more opportune time. "They can't wait on this much longer," El-Halwagi said.
"The biggest challenge for the research team right now is the construction of the pilot plant due to the time it takes after you order the equipment until you have them in the lab," said Abdel-Wahab. "The construction of the plant is expected to be complete in about three months from now, then the experiments on the plant will start.
"If successful, we will patent the technology and then try to commercialize it. We will not build additional plants ourselves. We are building this one for the study. If the study is successful, it will be patented and the technology will be commercialized for interested companies to purchase it and build the plants."
The situation is more urgent in the Middle East. A 2005 Qatar Department of Agriculture and Water report indicated that nearly a third of the 1,285 registered farms have been abandoned because fresh groundwater is being depleted. This was why A&M's research could not come at a more opportune time. "They can't wait on this much longer," El-Halwagi said.
"The biggest challenge for the research team right now is the construction of the pilot plant due to the time it takes after you order the equipment until you have them in the lab," said Abdel-Wahab. "The construction of the plant is expected to be complete in about three months from now, then the experiments on the plant will start.
"If successful, we will patent the technology and then try to commercialize it. We will not build additional plants ourselves. We are building this one for the study. If the study is successful, it will be patented and the technology will be commercialized for interested companies to purchase it and build the plants."
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