SUMAMAD Project in the Omayed biosphere reserve in Egypt.
Omayed BR is located in the western Mediterranean coastal region of Egypt. It extends about 30 km along the Mediterranean coast from west of El-Hammam to El-Alamin with a width of 23.5 km to the south. It covers 4 villages with a total population of about 12,000. Not all the villages have water supply, they rely on transporting water by trucks and storing it. The water transported is not of good quality, and storing it causes serious intestinal diseases.
The suggested system desalinates and purifies saline water extracted from wells that are spread in the area. The installation of the pilot project was strongly supported by the local community. 150m2 of land including a salt water well and a pump were donated. The raw water runs by gravity from the tank to four distillation units that separate the salt from water by using solar energy. The production rate of distillate is about 100-120 litres per day depending on the amount of sunlight. Even on cloudy days there is enough water to provide five families with drinking water, i.e. 40 – 50 persons.
The intake of untreated water is automatically dosed that around 50% evaporate and 50% remain as brine. The brine is further treated in a series of distillation stills to produce more fresh water, and finally produce salt crystals used by the community for tanning of leather. The lifespan of the collectors can be expected to be over 20 years.
Source: Clean Water Solutions
Report of the Project of solar water desalination within the SUMAMAD Project in the Omayed biosphere in Egypt. Realized by Prof. Dr. Boshra Salem and Andreas Schneider, Clear Water Solutions Egypt.
