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Conference on Impact of Red Tides and Harmful Algal Blooms on Desalination Plants Begins [Oman News Agency](Oman News Agency Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Muscat, Apr 16 (ONA) --- An international conference on the impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), commonly called "red tides" on desalination plants, began at the Muscat Intercontinental Hotel today. The two-day conference is being organized by the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW), in conjunction with Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) and the IOC UNESCO Intergovernmental Panel for Harmful Algal Blooms.The opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Mahrouqi, Chairman of PAEW who stated that the rid tides have a remarkable impact on the fisheries and desalinations plants in the Sultanate.He added that it has become a necessity to review the experiences of other countries in terms of the solutions for this phenomenon.At the beginning of the conference, Hamad bin Said al-Hassani, Director of Water Quality at PAEW gave a speech during which he said PAEW has approved the 2040 PAEW strategic plan through which a number of means shall be followed in order to fulfill the requirements of the economic and social development, among of which is constructing new plants to foster the water girds, in addition to adopting parallel plans for requalifying and maintaining the constituted plants and grids in order to offer better level for the services that fulfill the needs of the citizens and the residents.He added that the compound productive capacity for the water desalination plants supervised by PAEW have reached, in 2013, more than (850) thousands cubic meter from the daily desalinated water while the key water pipe lines, of all capacities, have reached 2050 km and the pipes of water distribution to more than 6660 km, while the number of the subscribers has soared to 340,982 compared with 315,158 subscribers in the year 2012 with an increasing percentage of 8%.An international panel of presenters will discuss the incidence, control and impact of HABs on desalination plants. Issues to be discussed will include a review of the global diversity of HAB species, toxins, and bloom types, trends in HAB incidence, the fate of algal toxins during desalination, impacts of high algal biomass on filtration and membrane integrity, and potential mitigation strategies and operating procedures during HABs. International and GCC regional case studies will be presented. There will be over 130 participants from 18 countries, representing industry, government, academic and research institutes.The aim of this conference is to bring the two communities of HAB scientists and desalination engineers, operators and managers together with public policy officials, to document the nature of the present problem, as well as the likely trend of increasing impacts going forward. It is commonly accepted that the number and severity of HABs is increasing globally and this is occurring concurrently with the rapid expansion of the desalination industry.It is worth mentioning that HABs are blooms of algae, both microscopic and macroscopic (seaweeds) that cause harm in many ways. Traditionally, these have affected human and ecosystem health, fisheries, tourism, and coastal aesthetics, but more recently, impacts on desalination and water purification plants have increased period some HABs produce potent neurotoxins that have the potential to persist in treated water threatening health, others restrict operations by clogging intake filters, fouling surfaces, and compromising membranes, and/or by producing taste, odor and skin irritating compounds.--- Ends/AH/KH (c) 2014 (C) . Oman News Agency. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info, an Albawaba.com company |