• Monday, 25-06-2018

First of its Kind in Palestine: PTUK Operates Wastewater Treatment Unit Using Algae

The Faculty of Science and Agricultural Technology at Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie has started the operation of the Wastewater Treatment Unit using algae to become the first of its type in the region and the first worldwide to be implemented outside the laboratories.
The project, which is under the supervision of its Project Manager and the Dean of the Faculty of Scienceand Agricultural Technology at PTUK Dr. Tahseen Sayara, Dr. Saed Khayyat, a lecturer at PTUK and Dr. Peter van der Steen from IHE Delft, is in cooperation with the Dutch IHE Delft Institute for Water Educationwithin the framework of the Palestinian-Dutch Academic Cooperation Program on Water (PADUCO).
Dr. Sayara explained that the project aims to find non-traditional methods to solve the crisis of water scarcity that the local community suffer from since the Palestinian people only use 15 % of the local water resources.
He said that “using algae in water technology reduces the project operation cost since it provides oxygen, removes nutrients such as Nitrogen gas and Phosphorus, and uses biomass to produce oxygen and manure.”
He also added that PTUK is looking forward to conducting a study on reusing wastewater for plants irrigation; in addition to maximizing the procedural researches so as to be used for other purposes based on the outcome quality.
The Dean praised the current partnership with IHE Delft Institute for Water Educationfor their long experience in wastewater treatment, pointing out that the idea of the project has opened wide horizons with their institution which may offer chances to add other units to PTUK’s Wastewater Treatment Unit.