Breakthrough in desalination?

The pseudonymous Mr Dryer sent me this nice link (thanks Willie). A Jordanian student, sponsored by Oman's Middle Eastern Desalination Research center to study in Canada, may have develeoped a really great membrane for desalination.

If it holds up, and doesn't clog easily, that would be a great boon for Oman.

I hope they secured some decent IP rights... But well done, H.E. Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albu Saidi, MEDRC Chairman.

What's nice about the Centre is that is essentially funded by the Americans, plus the Europeans, Japanese, Israelis and Koreans, mainly for the purpose of helping the Palestinians and Israelis have 1 less thing to fight over - water.

Ottawa student may hold secret to Water For All

Special to Globetechnology.com
June 5, 2008 at 4:06 PM EDT

Mohammed Rasool Qtaisha knows what it's like to be thirsty. The 29-year-old chemical engineering PhD student at the University Ottawa grew up in Jordan, where water shortages were a way of life. And his experience is shared by millions of others around the world.

""The government gives us warning, of course. But the water would be off for days, sometimes two, three days per week, so people would have to prepare by storing water," he said.

But as populations increase and shortages become more frequent, lack of water isn't just a poor nation's problem any more. At least 36 U.S. states are expected to face shortages within the next five years, according to U.S. government estimates, and by 2025, nearly 50 per cent of the world's population will live in water-stressed areas, according to the UN.

Mohammed Rasool Qtaishat (right), standing here with his mentor David Mann at the 2008 Ottawa Technology Venture Challenge, won top prize for developing a technology that turns seawater into clean, drinking water much more efficiently than is available today. In recent years, nations have started privatizing or exporting fresh water, placing a value on the life staple like any other precious commodity.

But some people aren't waiting for disaster to strike before taking action.

Inspired by his circumstances, Mr. Qtaishat founded Water For All with the aim of developing a new water technology to turn seawater into clean, drinking water on a large scale.Current desalination technology extracts drinking water from seawater through several filtering steps and something called reverse osmosis, in which salt water is passed through a polymer membrane, separating solute from solvent. The main problem is that because sodium chloride is such a small particle, the process is slow and very energy intensive.

In 2004, Mr. Qtaishat approached the Middle East Desalination Research Centre in Oman to fund his startup, called Water for All, and presented his method for developing a far more efficient way of turning seawater into drinking water. The centre was so impressed, they offered him a scholarship to come to Canada and develop his technology.
Although Mr. Qtaishat's solution is top secret while the patent is still pending, he says refining the process is all about the type of material used in the membrane. With this new material, his prototype is able to run on solar panels and produce 50 kilograms of water per metre square of the membrane per hour. That is 600 to 700 per cent more efficient than current technology, which produces about seven to eight kilograms per metre per hour.
...

Cyclone Risk downgraded to 'Poor'. Nizwa wells drying up.

The chances of a cyclone developing over the next few days near Oman has been downgraded to 'Poor' by the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The winds are not allowing the tropical depression to strengthen, and wind speeds are dropping. For details see Weather Blog.

So for now, we're OK. There may be some high clouds and moderate winds over the next few days, maybe even some showers, but its nothing to panic about.

The rain in Nizwa yesterday is just that - a bit of rain. Which they need badly. There is effectively no Government water in the whole Nizwa area lately. People are having to buy it from trucks, if they can afford it. Many houses and Mosques in Nizwa just don't have water.

Meanwhile, here's a great pic a friend sent me, taken in April near a Texas oil rig. How would you like to see this out your bedroom window?

No its still not a cyclone.

The lack of water in the Omani supermarkets is testament to the fear of another Gonu II. And, hey, I stocked up on water too last week. Not because of a cyclone. Because I don't want to run out of bottled water when everyone ran out and bought it.

Some of you will be thinking: OK, you think you're so smart Mr Dragon, is it then just co-incidence that right now, its raining in Salalah!!!!!

Yes. The rain is because there was a small storm that's drifted in from offshore Yemen. You can see it on the sat pic. This is not a tropical cyclone. And, hey, its Salalah. They often catch a piece of one of the chain of monsoon storms constantly rolling across the Indian Ocean from the NE tip of Africa across to India at this time of the year. You can see them beautifully on the Infrared satellite here.

The Muscat area, and the area that generated Gonu last year, is still totally clear of anything remotely looking like a cyclone.

Although, now the UK peaple who mis-predicted a possible cyclone are now apparently predicting another one. Hmmm. Maybe they'd notice the first one didn't appear. And maybe their model needs correcting???

If Gonu II does appear, you'll have at least 2-3 days warning people.

Business Opportunities in Oman

Business Opportunities in Oman

OK you entrepreneurs. Here is the first set (of hopefully many) good business opportunities for Omani, courtesy of Dragon Consulting.

Fancy Water.
There is a market for Omani water in a fancy (Bombay Sapphire blue seems fashionable) glass bottles, for both tourists, snobs and the Chedi [refer recent post of Suburban]. In addition, make a sparkling version too please, by simply injecting it with CO2. Your only competition is high priced Pelligrino and Perrier.

Salad greens
so called spring salad mix aka mesclun mix aka field greens aka spring mix. Did you know that Oman is importing (airflown) fancy baby salad greens all the way from France, Australia and California? It retails at more than 4 rials/400g bag, and still the expats fight for it. This stuff must grow like wildfire here with a bit of decent hydroponics. But note, it's got to be triple washed, nicely packaged (probably with a nitrogen fill) and actual baby greens, not the monster rocket (aka arugula) we normally get locally. Commercial mixes usually include arugula, mizuna, tat soi, frisee, oakleaf, red chard, radicchio, mustard greens, and radicchio. See here for a how to on spring mix.

A Casino.
Really. I know, traditionally seen as somewhat Haram, but hey, just ban Omani Muslims! But, remember one thing Dubai doesn’t have (yet?) is a casino. Tourists love casinos. Hey, we all do. And they are a licence to print money. Maybe site the thing in Buraimi or even better Mahdah (that little piece of Oman in the UAE, between Musandam and main Oman). Not only will you get tourists from UAE and Oman, but think of money you can take off the Saudi, Kuwaiti and UAE Princes and Sheikhs! Serve lots of booze, and never close 24/7.

Hops
There is a world shortage of good hops. Prices are now around $50 a kilo. It should grow well with sun and irrigation, and would make a good export. See here. Do a deal with a big regional brewer for support and long term contracts.

Which leads us to...
A brewery
Oman imports a lot of beer. It’s about time there was a local brew, using the fantastic water and the local hops (see above). It could be exported to the UAE and Bahrain etc, as well as sold alongside the imports here (especially if there was a bit of a tax discount). It could also be easily smuggled across into Saudi for a healthy profit.

Date Liquor
The tourists would buy it in half bottles as a present for the folks back home. Yum.

Go Oman!