The International Desalination Association (IDA) has been appointed as a ‘knowledge partner’ for the International Water Summit for the third consecutive year.
The summit’s focus is on new thinking on integrated water resource management. It will run 19-22 January 2015 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, hosted by Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, Masdar.
IDA secretary general, Patricia A Burke, pointed out that the IDA has been an IWS since the inception of the event and highlighted the place for desalination as a means to address sustainability in meeting growing global water demand. “Sustainability is a key topic for the world’s water supply, and desalination is unique in its ability to provide our thirsty world with the only new and renewable source of fresh water,’ she said. ”Through advanced water reuse treatment, we are able to extend the lifecycle of this precious resource. Our industry’s great strides in reducing energy requirements add an important dimension to desalination and water reuse as a holistically sustainable water solution,” she added.
Entitled ‘Promoting Water Sustainability in Arid Regions,’ the conference and exhibition will bring together world leaders, field experts, leading members of academia, and business innovators to discuss the latest water technologies and the immense commercial potential of their application to the Middle East and North Africa region.
IWS is partyof Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, which will also include the eighth World Future Energy Summit, the second edition of EcoWaste, and the seventh Zayed Future Energy Prize Award Ceremony in addition to the Fifth General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Event director of IWS, Naji El Haddad, said: “The IDA is the world’s leading organisation focused on desalination and advanced water reuse, and is well known for being a global resource for information, professional development and making business-building connections within the worldwide desalination and reuse industry.
“Working with IDA ensures that the programme’s panels on the important topic of desalination incorporate the latest trends and industry’s best thinking.” IDA will present sessions focused on Energy Efficient and Clean Technology Desalination, It will include a high-level panel discussion on ‘Taking a Unified Strategic Approach to Address the Challenges of the Water Energy Nexus,’ which will look at ways to settle on common objectives and targets for improvement. It will also at; creating means to distribute water and energy resources; solving the interlinked challenges of urban water and energy to enable the growth of cities and businesses; and sharing urban solutions to improve utility performance.