Aqua Resources Share Discussion Threads

[frizzers] 03/5/2009 01:18

Robin Griffiths, author with William Houston of Water: The Final Resource. How the Politics Of Water Will Affect The World, discusses cycles, technical analysis and some of the many issues raised in his excellent new book.

[m.t.glass] 22/4/2009 14:16

Rivers in some of the world's most populous regions are losing water, according to a comprehensive study of global stream flows. The research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water.

The results will be published 15 May in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NCAR's sponsor.

The distribution of the world's fresh water, already an important topic, will occupy front and center stage for years to come in developing adaptation strategies to a changing climate.



The scientists, who examined stream flows from 1948 to 2004, found significant changes in about one-third of the world's largest rivers. Of those, rivers with decreased flow outnumbered those with increased flow by a ratio of about 2.5 to 1.

Several of the rivers channeling less water serve large populations, including the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, the Niger in West Africa and the Colorado in the southwestern United States.

[trigger45] 15/4/2009 07:29

The saline solution
Daniel Bardsley

Last Updated: April 15. 2009 8:30AM UAE / April 15. 2009 4:30AM GMT
Naim Ismail, Managing Director of First AFG Environmental, a US company that has developed compact salt water treatment systems for agriculture purposes. Ryan Carter / The National
With the world's population growing fast and causing food needs to increase, agricultural demand for water will continue to grow.

However, the planet's supply of fresh water is limited and salt water can be unsuitable both for drinking and for irrigating crops.

Desalinating water consumes large amounts of energy and has harmful environmental effects due to the production of a salty residue.

In this part of the world, the residue is often flushed back into the Gulf, leading to fears that coral and other marine life could suffer.

There are alternatives to thermal distillation, in which salt water is boiled and the pure water collected as condensation.

Among them is reverse osmosis, which involves piping seawater through a semi-permeable membrane that traps minerals.

Like thermal distillation, this method produces salty waste and also requires the periodic replacement of membranes, so technologists are working hard to find improvements or alternatives.

For example, the German company IES has devised a "zero-discharge recycling" of water that takes more drinkable water from the brine that would normally be dumped in the sea, and in turn allows useful dry minerals to be extracted.

Another firm, First AFG, based in California, believes the solution is to leave the salt in place and treat the particles so they become inert.

This, the company says, means crops can grow well even in heavily salted water, something that could prove useful as the company says 97 per cent of the world's surface water is saline.

First AFG has been developing the technology for the past 17 years and is now hoping it will finally be commercialised.

Naim Ismail, the company's Afghan-American managing director, was in the UAE recently to check on trials of his equipment at the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) in Dubai, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

As the technology is proprietary and has not been patented, Mr Ismail does not go into details about exactly how the company's machines work.

However, the organisation will say that the salt content of the water is unchanged by the process, although the electromagnetic-type process the water goes through alters the charge of the particles. "The salinity does not change because the salt is not being extracted from the water," he says, adding that crystallisation of salt particles does not take place.

"The salt remains in the water, but without any negative impact [on crop growth]. We permanently encapsulate the salt molecules."

Also, acidic or alkaline water comes out of the process more neutral than it went in.

"In Dubai with our testing, the water was in the high sevens or low eights [pH], and it brought it down to 7.3 or 7.4, and it works in both directions," Mr Ismail says.

It is, says Mr Ismail, a "very simple" process that is environmentally friendly as no chemicals are involved.

"With a desalination plant, you're looking at very expensive membranes, but with our machines you're looking at maybe a slightly advanced water pump," he says.

The machines can be made to different sizes, but at the lower end a device might be able to produce about 10 cubic metres of water per hour, which translates to around 50,000 gallons a day.

So far, Mr Ismail says that during trials in Dubai with barley, plants grown in treated ground water were not too far behind those grown in fresh water.

For example, the average length of the spike – the end part which contains the grains – was 17cm with treated ground water and 19cm with fresh water, while the number of grains per spike was 24 with treated ground water and 31 with fresh water.

"Fresh water will always be better, but we don't have the luxury of fresh water for much longer, because it is depleted significantly," Mr Ismail says.

"In the US and Canada, we've been able to achieve [results] almost as good as fresh water, but here the sand and climate are challenging. Our results here are still very favourable, but not as good as fresh water."

When seeds are grown in treated ground water, growth and germination rates appear to be higher than when untreated water is used, the company says.

Trials using sunflower seeds, which are described as moderately salt-tolerant, have also taken place at ICBA.

When ground water was applied to the seeds, the germination rate was 63 per cent, while seeds given treated water achieved a 70 per cent germination rate. After 72 days, 84 per cent of seedlings in groundwater had died, whereas just 50 per cent of those in treated water had succumbed.

Mr Ismail says the machine under test is a prototype and that further improvements can be expected as the technology is refined.

"I believe with a full-scale machine we'll see a much greater result," he says.

First AFG is hoping to partner with a distributor for commercialisation of its custom-made machines, although Mr Ismail says they are already suitable to go into commercial use.

"The technology could be made available today as long as we have ready and able customers," he says.

Dr Nurul Akhand, an irrigational scientist at ICBA, said evaluation of the machine was not yet completed, but said it "shows promise" in that treated water is better for plants than untreated.

He said he was unsure of the exact way the machine worked, but believes it functions by altering the magnetic properties of the salt particles. He described its major advantage as environmental, in that it does not produce salt water or brine as waste, unlike alternative water purification methods such as reverse osmosis, which he said were commonly used by farmers here.

"In the UAE there are many small-scale reverse osmosis desalination units they're using in different emirates," he said.

"They're using groundwater and after desalination they're growing cucumbers, tomatoes and beans.

"But it's a question of disposal [of the brine].

"But for the First AFG machine you don't have any brine. That's the advantage – it's environmentally friendly."

He believed First AFG's machine would also be lower maintenance than a reverse osmosis unit, which contain membranes that require replacing.

However, he said the institute had not compared the energy use of a First AFG machine and a reverse osmosis unit.

"Many other companies are developing similar types of technology," he added.

[timberwolf] 19/3/2009 11:20

Article today at Telegraph.co.uk:

Food and energy shortages will create 'perfect storm', says Prof John Beddington

Growing populations, falling energy sources and food shortages will create the "perfect storm" by 2030, the government's chief scientist Professor John Beddington has said.

"It's a perfect storm," Prof Beddington will tell the Sustainable Development UK 09 conference.

Growing populations and success in alleviating poverty in the Third World will create huge demand for food and water in the next two decades with climate change depleting resources.

He said food reserves are at a 50-year low but the world requires 50 per cent more energy, food and water by 2030.

The United Nations Environment Programme predicts widespread water shortages across Africa, Europe and Asia by 2025. The amount of fresh water available per head of the population is expected to decline sharply in that time.

[notanewmember2] 16/3/2009 08:56

Future of water - interview on FSN. Right click if you want to save as MP3, when you visit this page:

[imabastard] 22/2/2009 15:09

Mtg .... one that (although not Uk listed) appears to be lifting at a pace is AWTI, easily tradeable through a Uk broker .... on the back of an Air to Water installation in India. It is reported to have the backing of the regional Indian government and traded through PVT in India. It had a price of 30 cents and is currently at around 2 cents, rising from a base of a quarter of a cent. If it reaches 30 cents again, it's market cap will still only be $500,000 (half a million $). Best place to read the recent market announcements on the stock is by looking at Etrade USA (you don't have to have an account). There are no guarantees with any stock but certainly interesting.

[trigger45] 31/1/2009 07:01

Very simple and brilliant idea.

[trigger45] 18/1/2009 21:17

Thanks for your reply M.T.Glass. So I assume we could be struggling to find a UK Company that has any interest?

On another level does anyone think this solution is a money spinner?

[m.t.glass] 18/1/2009 19:18

trigger,

Well, basically, anyone who makes dehumidifiers - which is all an "air-water" machine is! In areas where humidity is low I imagine the machines consume energy (running compressor and fan) to an extent that can outweigh any benefit (indicated in the small print).

[marwalker] 18/1/2009 19:07

Major General Julian Thompson wrote a book a few years ago which postulates that future wars will be about gaining water supplies rather than oil.

Already there is much dissent about some of the Worlds great rivers which flow through several countries where water extraction or damming has mean much reduced volumes for those living down river.

[trigger45] 18/1/2009 19:01

M.T.Glass - You seem to have a good knowledge of water companies. Do you know of any UK Companies that have this air to water tech?

Thanks in advance.

[still waiting] 18/1/2009 09:13

thanks, will have a read.

[m.t.glass] 18/1/2009 00:33

See also
(several water related links and stocks)

[still waiting] 17/1/2009 21:05

will have a look at it.

link for further research:-

[trigger45] 17/1/2009 18:44

This is interesting

[prenvest] 14/1/2009 12:15

No news on afs website.
According to advfn afs have 19m shares in issue!

[ted32] 14/1/2009 12:11

I'm still waiting for my Bluewater share cert. which I asked for almost 2 months ago.
Anybody else out there who has experienced the same problem?

[ted32] 14/1/2009 12:01

Apart from the 2 buys there is nothing on Barclays website.I'm sure if it was Director buying there would have been something.

[aukley] 14/1/2009 11:53

Is there an announcement today?

Sorry-confused dates. Have been trying to delete.

[prenvest] 14/1/2009 11:28

Anyone noticed the large volume of shares traded today in Amiad Filtration (AFS). Usually very small trading volume but 8.8m today according to advfn.

[praipus] 18/12/2008 10:19

serotine - for desalination take a look at posts 58 and 72 REH/CETO projects.

[serotine] 18/12/2008 07:19

article from Spectator on water

[m.t.glass] 26/11/2008 23:34

This link (posted elsewhere by timberwolf) is to an Investors Chronicle article on investing in water, dated 17 Nov 2008