Waster Stressed to Water Blessed

Earth is often referred to as “the water planet”, yet only three percent of Earth’s water is fresh water and only 1.2% of the fresh water is accessible. The rest of the fresh water is locked up in glaciers, ice caps, and permafrost. All living organisms have one thing in common they need clean water to survive. Unfortunately, 2 million tons of sewage and agricultural waste are discharged into the world’s water every day. Untreated wastewater contaminates this limited supply of fresh water worldwide and is one of the most significant forms of water pollution. The UNFAO has identified Qatar as the highest water-stressed country in the world because of its rapidly growing population, scarce water resources, and an overall dry subtropical desert climate. Moreover, much of the soil in Qatar is saline and requires remediation to make it viable for agriculture. This project addresses the need for irrigation water and for soil improvement in Qatar by treating wastewater to meet irrigation standards and by recovering agricultural quality biosolids for soil augmentation. The project will enable Qatar to reduce its reliance on water from importation, from scarce groundwater reserves, and from desalination by reverse osmosis. The project will provide the further benefit of preventing health risk to humans and animals from the discharge of untreated sewage into Qatar’s water courses. The economics of the project will be maximized by using an advanced biological treatment process and by incorporating the production of biogas to produce electrical energy for in-plant use.