BRAWA

brawaDevelopment and implementation of an innovative, brackish water treatment pilot plant for the production of drinking water in communities of Jordan.
22/04/2010-22/04/2013
http://brawa.uest.gr

 

This project title took place in Jordan, with the collaboration of the University of Science and Technology of Jordan (Department of Agriculture). It was funded by the Hellenic Aid Program (Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The main objective of this project was the development of a brackish water treatment system for the production of drinking water in order to assist water resources management in Jordan. The project team initially assessed the current situation in the country related to the management of water resources. In addition, estimations for the future per capita needs of drinking water were made. Furthermore, a comparison between the existing Jordanian and European legislative framework on water resources management was executed. Also, the actions that have to be taken and the responsibilities of the competent authorities were defined. Estimation of the economic dimension of the actions and suggestions in relation to the financial strategies that have to be implemented for supporting the project objectives were made. During the project the availability and characteristics (quantitative / qualitative) of brackish water in Jordan as well as existing treatment methods and units of brackish water (infrastructure, technical characteristics, site location, uses of the water produced) were examined. Following the aforementioned examination, a description and evaluation of the methods, practices and brackish water treatment technologies in combination with an analysis of all relevant aspects of health, environment and the risks which derive from the re-use of brackish water were carried out. After the successful completion of the above activities, the design of the pilot system took place, taking into account energy requirements and the brackish water composition. After the completion of the unit construction in Greece, the long testing and optimization of the system performance took place in Greece. To this end, experiments under various operating conditions and of different brackish water characteristics were executed.

brawa

Short and long term objectives: The main objective of this project is the development of an innovative self-sufficient brackish water treatment pilot system for the production of drinking water in order to provide a Jordan community suffering from lack of water with a source of clean water. Other objectives were:

  • The assessment of the current situation regarding the management of the water resources in Jordan and their availability.
  • The examination of the possibility of processing brackish water for getting drinking water.
  • The provision of useful information, data, guidelines, practical measures and codes of practice for effective and proper (in environmental terms) re-use of brackish water as drinking water in areas with severe water shortage problem.
  • The introduction of advanced processes for the treatment of brackish water.
  • The design, construction and operation of a prototype, energy autonomous pilot plant processing brackish water
  • Evaluation and optimization of the system’s performance for specific default parameters.
  • The ensuring of the water production with very high quality that could be safely used as drinking water thus reducing the problem of the water scarcity in regions that lack water resources.
  • The method application in large scale and the system extension in order to cover the needs in other areas of Jordan and other countries that face similar problems.
  • The assistance of the local governments for the development and other programs related to the upgrade of low quality water resources and their re-use as drinking water.
  • The dissemination of the project results to other countries facing serious water shortage problems.
  • Dissemination of the progress and the results of the program through a website, meetings, conferences and brochures.

brawa3Results and environmental benefits: The implementation of the project could contribute to the reduction of the water scarcity problem at the area of application, Ruwaished, and also provided information to the citizens on re-use of brackish water issues. Also public awareness on water management was raised and consumption best practices were implemented.