Congratulations to Dr. Al-Alami

With the offer of funding highly qualified doctoral students, CNRD plays a central role in supporting future experts in the field of Natural Resources Management (click here for more Information). One of CNRDs scholarship holders, Nivin Al-Alami, successfully defended her PhD thesis at University of Jordan on August 9^th, 2015. Under the supervision of Prof. Hala Al Khyami (University of Jordan) and the co-supervison of Prof. Lars Ribbe (ITT) and Dr. Hamzah Al-Qadiri (University of Jordan), she finalized her PhD thesis entitled “Zai Water Treatment Plant: Microbial Risk Assessment and Management from Source to Water Effluent, Jordan”.

Amongst the audience, the Minister of Water and Irrigation of Jordan, Dr. Hazem El Nasser, attended her PhD defense.

Dr. Al-Alamis research work was conducted to investigate the efficiency of Zai Water Treatment Plant in controlling microbial waterborne contaminants. The scheme was achieved through the application of microbial risk assessment and management and via spot analysis of different water sources at King Abdullah Canal and treatment points at Zai Water Treatment Plant to overview the entire water system from catchments to water effluent. In conclusion, Zai Water Treatment Plant complies with the recommended operating standards in water treatment through reduction of turbidity and organic loads; this indicates a reduction in microbial content during the final stages of water treatment. The results indicated that the examination of conventional microbial indicators alone may not provide a comprehensive approach to assess water safety. Therefore, an applicable water safety plan at Zai Water Treatment Plant is necessary to manage microbial risk from catchment to water effluent. Additionally, an effective policy must be achieved to protect water sources through the developing and implementing a catchment management plan, which includes control measures and barriers to protect surface water sources at King Abdullah Canal.

Many institutions might benefit from Dr. Al-Alamis results, amongst them the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Miyahuna (Jordan Water Company), the Water Authority of Jordan and and the Water, Energy and Environment Center at the University of Jordan.

In the future, D. Al-Alami intends to establish a research center to conduct laboratory and molecular studies linked to water and environmental microbiological research, graduate studies and consultation under the umbrella of the University of Jordan.

Prof. Hussein Masoud, Prof. Lars Ribbe, Prof. Hala Al Khyami, Dr. Al-Alami, Dr. Hamzah Al-Qadiri, Dr. Hazem El Nasser (Minister of Water and Irrigation, Prof. Elias Salameh