The Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation held a closing workshop under the auspices of Ali Mohammed al Abri, Under-Secretary of Water Resources at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, to conclude the research project “Use of End-of-Life Reverse Osmosis Membranes to Treat Wastewater for Industrial and Agricultural Use Project – REROM.”
The workshop was attended by Ciaran O’Cuinn, Center Director, MEDRC, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research & Innovation, Oman Water & Wastewater Services Company (OWWSC), MAJIS Industrial Services, Sultan Qaboos University and The Oman Water Society.
Under the Strategic Water Research Program funded by the Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science, MEDRC and the Ministry of Higher Education Research and Innovation have signed a research contract in 2019 to lead a 2-year water research project to investigate the potential of reusing discarded reverse osmosis desalination membranes for treating wastewater for industrial or agricultural use.
The research project delivered an in-depth analysis of membrane use in Oman, including an assessment of the life cycle of RO membranes and the annual mass being consigned to landfill. It also examined the technical feasibility of removing the outer layer of the membrane and modifying the unit to effectively treat wastewater for agricultural and industrial use.
As part of the project a testing unit was built to perform trials on the recovered membranes at MEDRC’s headquarters in Al Hail. The organization’s on-site water testing laboratory was used to conduct all water analysis. The workshop discussed the project results and its potential effects in the agricultural and industrial sectors. The workshop also included an onsite display of the Ultrafiltration plant which will later be moved to OWWSC and MAJIS for testing.
Project partners included the Ministry of Higher Education, Research & Innovation, the Oman Water & Wastewater Services Company, MAJIS Industrial Services and Sultan Qaboos University.
