Green method for wastewater treatment in Oman wins environmental award

Green method for wastewater treatment in Oman wins environmental award

Muscat: An environment-friendly process to treat and recycle wastewater in Oman has won an award from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The process involves a wetland system consisting of locally sourced gravel, sand, and reeds to treat wastewater by natural methods so that it can be repurposed for irrigation. Built on an area spanning 995 square metres in the premises of the wastewater treatment plant in Quriyat, the system was designed for Omani climatic conditions, using no mechanical parts. The treatment system was designed by Buthaina Al Wahaibi, Mahad Baawain, Dr Alexandros Stefanakis, Dr Tahereh Jafary, Dr Mortaza Aghbashli, Dr Meisam Tabatabei and Dr Abdullah Al Mamun, for which they were awarded the Annual Research Award for 2021 in the category of Best Published Research Led by a Young Researcher (non-PhD holder) in the Environment and Biological Resources Sector. Dr Alexandros Stefanakis, who worked on the project, and is employed as an assistant professor at the Technical University of Crete in Greece, explained the increasing need to focus on more and more environmentally sustainable solutions. "It is only now that we realise the magnitude of the global environmental problems and their impact," said Stefanakis, who is also