Case 1: Connecting Blue and Green Networks

Case owner: PureBlue Water (The Netherlands)

As arid country, the United Arab Emirates lacks freshwater resources, especially in cities. Water reuse is one of the opportunities to mitigate the water stress in those cities. PureBlue’s decentral wastewater treatment units treat up until natural water quality and beyond. The goal is to enforce blue networks, the concatenation of water bodies and infrastructure, to let green networks, like parks, nature reserves and oases grow. PureBlue looks for creative implementation of their units in UAE cities to bring fresh water to locations that will benefit most from it. In addition, social innovation is of large importance to convince people of the safety and environmental friendliness of treated wastewater.

Case 2: A Sustainable Alternative to Water in Plastic

Case owner: RVO.nl

On a regular day millions of people encounter one or more single use plastic water bottle. It is just a normal routine but the effect that it has on our planet is devastating to the entire ecosystem. A plastic bottle does not simply disappear once we recycle it or throw it away, it is not biodegradable and becomes land and ocean litter. Organizations that go through a particularly high volume of plastic bottles consumption are University Campuses with vending machines and cafeteria and Hotels with plastic bottles distributed in each guest room. How can the use of “hydration stations” within these institutions be the solution to drastically reduce the impact that single use plastic has on the environment?

Pitch & Poster

Pitch & Poster

Case 3: Decision-making tool for water management at small farms in UAE

Case owner: United Arab Emirates University 

Privately owned farms of a size between two and six ha are very common in the UAE, and mostly rely on groundwater for crop irrigation. In recent years the productivity of many of these farms has been threatened by increasing groundwater depletion and salinization. Various management strategies have been proposed to slow down groundwater deterioration and/or sustain agricultural production under increasing salinity. tools to facilitate such water management decision making are so far not available. It will maximize revenues at the farm level, and/or create an overall long-term sustainability and environmental safety. How could a tool support an individual farmer or decision identifying of the most feasible water management strategy for UAE’s small farms?

Case 4: Circular carbon zero water and resources recovery plant

Case owner: Witteveen+Bos (The Netherlands)

The global water sector contributes about 5% of greenhouse gas (GHG), and this is calculated without the process-related emissions of CH4, CO2 and N2O due to biological used water treatment. The UWTP’s are getting more efficient every day and water loops are being closed in municipal and industrial settings. However, by improving removal performances the carbon emissions rise by energy demand, chemical use, and process emission. Improving water quality leads to increasing CO2 emissions. The Water and Resources Refinery, developed by Witteveen+Bos and partners leads to a circular zero carbon used water treatment. How can the Water and Resources Refinery also solve these challenges for the United Arab Emirates and Singapore creating a future-proof and climate resilient water sector?

Pitch & Poster

Pitch & Poster