In keeping with a tradition that started in 2014, AUT celebrated World Water Day on March 26 with a conference on Sustainable Water Solutions.
The conference, attended by over 110 people, and placed under the auspices of the Minister of Energy and Water, dealt with solutions for the district of Jbeil, and solutions adopted in other countries.
The Jbeil district case was presented by the director general of EBML (The Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Authority), Mr Jean Gebran, who mentioned projects completed, and others under way, in several towns that would bring partial solutions to the water shortage, pending more funds that would allow the expansion of works.
Showcasing a completed project, Ghalboun Mayor Elie Gebrayel spoke about the sustainable projects involving green energy, smart water, and electricity counters, as well as solar farms that his municipal team is working on to make the town a symbol of sustainable development.
Another showcase was the town of Blat whose water project is under way, as Mayor Abdo Otayek explained, stressing that Blat is the largest coastal town on the Jbeil district. Working with EBML to solve the water shortage has been a success according to Mayor Otayek.
Another aspect of sustainability was tackled by EMCO Managing Director Wael Chalhoub. “Brown gold” was the topic of his presentation, since his company works all over the world to treat waste water from which cities derive financial benefits by getting clean irrigation water, fertilizers, and methane gas used as combustible. Water treatment has been implemented in the Beit Misk project in Lebanon, and has proven very useful. Chalhoub gave examples from the US to demonstrate how beneficial brown gold is.
A totally different aspect of water was offered by French Moroccan scientist Jamal Aïssa who sent a video explaining what has been called the memory of water. This scientific field studies how water retains and transmits DNA information obtained from electro-magentic signals emitted by bacteria and other pathogens. An assistant of Nobel Prize winner Luc Montagnier, Mr. Aïssa has accepted the invitation of AUT to give a presentation on this topic to scientists in Lebanon.
An innovative water treatment system which does not use electric power was presented by Ghady Geagea, of Recyco.
The representative of Minister Fayad, Dr, Khaled Nakhlé, mentioned the efforts of the ministry to palliate water shortage by building dams that would ensure a surplus of water when completed. Nakhlé also thanked AUT for always celebrating World Water Day with useful conferences that shed light on solutions.
Dr Anthony Ouba, chairperson of Water Resources at AUT gave details about the content of the BS program underlining the need for collaboration with the ministry and the regional water authorities.
Speakers were offered souvenir cedar artwork by AUT President, Mrs. Ghada Hinain. The audience and speakers gathered at the end over coffee and snacks.
Read the National News Agency coverage of the event.
Read An-Nahar’s coverage of the event.
