Dr. Saad Y. Jasim, P.Eng.
Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI),
CSE, Hamad Bin Khalifah University (HBKU)
Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
Dr. Saad Y. Jasim, P.Eng. Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), CSE, Hamad Bin Khalifah University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar
Disinfection is considered to be the primary mechanism for the inactivation of pathogenic organisms to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases to downstream users and the environment. Ozone is a very strong oxidant and virucide. Ozone is used to disinfect water and wastewater for reuse and groundwater recharge. The use of ozone for treatment of municipal wastewater is of increasing interest due to several benefits such as disinfection, colour and odour removal. Ozone has proven to be very effective in the removal of a diverse group of chemicals referred to as “Chemicals of Emerging Concern” such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and EDCs ( Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals) which are highly present in municipal wastewater discharge. Adverse impacts of this diverse group of chemicals have been documented for wildlife including increased feminization of fish, sexual disorders in snails and juvenile alligators, and kidney failure in vultures leading to death. The issue of possible human health impacts garnered considerable concern after it was confirmed that EDCs and PPCPs are capable of causing hormonal disruption in wildlife. Many of these chemicals have the potential to generate biological responses within the human body as they are designed that way.
Municipal wastewater is often a complex mixture of waste from households and different kind of industries. Ozone can reduce use of chemicals during water treatment processes, provides improvement to water treatment processes which leads to reduce energy use. Ozone has been used successfully in water recycle and reuse in agricultural application, specifically in Greenhouse applications. There are agronomic and economic benefits of wastewater use in agriculture. Irrigation with wastewater can increase the available water supply or release better quality supplies for alternative uses. In addition to these direct economic benefits that conserve natural resources, the fertilizer value of many wastewaters is important. Remarkable properties of ozone stand out in its application to laundry systems because it leaves no chemical residue and the amounts of detergent and other chemicals needed with ozone treatment are much lower than for conventional laundering systems, ozone-sanitized wash requires far less rinsing, thus saving water, and in addition, ozone works so efficiently in cold water, sanitizing as well as cleaning can be performed in cold water, saving considerable amount of energy.
Biography
Dr Saad Y. Jasim serves as Acting Research Director and Principal Investigator at the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute (QEERI), Associate Professor, College of Science & Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifah University, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar. Dr. Jasim received his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Baghdad University, his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales Swansea in the United Kingdom. He is a professional engineer in Canada.
Prior to his appointment at QEERI, Dr Jasim served as President, SJ Environmental Consultants (Windsor) Inc. providing consulting services to municipal, private water systems and government agencies to challenges related to water quality and water treatment. He also provided several pilot scale studies to municipal water systems in Canada. Dr. Jasim served as a Technical Expert at the Walkerton Inquiry in 2000 which was related to the death of 7 people due to contaminated water.
Dr. Jasim is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Ozone Association, serves on the Editorial Board of Science & Engineering Journal and the Editorial Board for Water Process Engineering. He also served on the Editorial Board of the Desalination Journal between 2009 and 2012. Served as peer reviewer to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and a peer reviewer for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program Science to Achieve Results to review applications for a National Research Center to demonstrate and facilitate novel and innovative technologies and approaches to measure or treat groups of microbiological or chemical contaminants.
Saad is a past President of the International Ozone Association-Pan American Group (IOA-PAG) and a past President of the Ontario Water Works Association (OWWA)-Section of AWWA.
Dr Jasim was also the Director, Great Lakes Regional Office-International Joint Commission (IJC) responsible for the operation of the Scientific and Technical programs, initiating strategic partnerships and alliances with the universities, and other stakeholders in the water industry to work on emerging issues related to water quality and served on the International Joint Commission’s Council of Great Lakes Research Managers. He was also the Founding CEO of the Walkerton Clean Water Centre and played a major role in establishing the Centre to make it a leader in the drinking water industry for training, education and research and was the Director for Water Quality and Production for the Windsor Utilities Commission, Ontario, Canada where he proposed, and successfully implemented the first Ozone for drinking water treatment in Ontario, Canada. Dr Jasim also served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Windsor since 1996, and Adjunct Research Professor at Western University, Ontario, Canada. He supervised Masters and PHD students, published and presented many papers related to water quality & treatment.
Dr Jasim received a number of awards for his work such as; Harvey Rosen Award, Ozone Science & Engineering for the best paper published for 2009-2010; 2008 Emerald Award-Ontario Ministry of the Environment; 2004 Engineer of the Year Award-Professional Engineers of Ontario; The Meritorious Service Award from the American Water Works Association for consistent and outstanding service in providing a quality water supply to the public; 1998 Business Professional of the Year, Windsor & District Chamber of Commerce.