Cyprus seeking to maximise desalination water capacities via EU project

Water-mining project is the title of an EU funded project that aims to make the best possible use of desalination water in countries like Cyprus that are faced with extreme droughts and water scarcity.

This is an ambitious European project funded by Horizon 2030, with a total of 39 partners including the Department of Water Development and the Larnaca Sewerage Board.

It could be the answer to the huge water problem Cyprus is faced with. One of the coordinators is the research center of the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, headed by Associate Professor and executive coordinator of the project, Demetris Xevgenos.

The results of the project have already been presented on the island of Lampedusa in Italy, with a positive response and footprint and is currently in the evaluation stage in order to be implemented. Lampedusa, as mentioned, depends 100% on desalination.

The project was presented by Professor Xevgenos to a group of Cypriot journalists visiting the Netherlands, at the invitation of the Dutch Embassy in Nicosia.

In remarks to the Cyprus News Agency, professor Xevgenos, specialising in water cycle systems, explained that Cyprus already has a significant background in desalination as 70% of the island's drinking water comes from these units.

However, desalination is costly and a large amount of the water from these units is lost as it is brine that otherwise could not be utilised. The key element is caustic soda which is converted, based on the scientific method, into a useful material for industry.

Based on the program, this water is converted into derivatives for other uses, energy is reduced in desalination and the island can ultimately have more water available for irrigation and water supply purposes.

The project is fully mature at a scientific level and was already presented last November to all the competent and involved actors, in Nicosia.

The project will now be evaluated at a European level before it is put on track for implementation at Cyprus Electricity Authority in Vasiliko. Tender procedures and management, among other things, for commercial purposes, are still pending.

(Source: CNA)