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On July 13, AQUACYCLE team members Dr. Ahmad ElMoll, Dr. Mohamad Khalil and Dr. Tawfik Al-Naboulsi from the Lebanese University met with Dr. Riad Yamak, Mayor of the municipality of Tripoli (below, left). The following day, Dr. ElMoll and Dr. Khalil also met with Dr. Khaled Obeid, Director of the North Lebanon Water Establishment (below, right).

Both meetings served to introduce the aims and present the most recent progress updates of the AQUACYCLE project.

Dr. Riad Yarnak expressed the active interest of the municipality to assist the Lebanese University team in its endeavours. The active cooperation with the municipality is most welcome as it will facilitate the construction and operation of a demonstration pilot of the eco-innovative APOC technology in Tripoli. To start with, the meeting delved into the planning permit procedures for the installation of the demonstration unit. Furthermore, also the provision of access to 5 m³/day of wastewater from the Tripoli sewage network which will feed into the APOC demonstration unit were discussed in detail.  To underline his commitment, the mayor assigned a member on the council of the municipality to follow up on the project progress on a day-to-day basis and to offer all assistance needed towards a successful project outcome.

Dr. Riad Yarnak also encouraged the AQUACYCLE team to make full use of the available maps in the library of Tripoli municipality. These maps will provide essential inputs to an online decision support tool which is being developed by the project for the drawing up of treated wastewater reuse action plans.

The meeting with Dr. Khaled Obeid, Director of the North Lebanon Water Establishment (NLWE), brought the opportunity to present in more detail the three stage APOC system consisting of an Anaerobic Digester, a Constructed Wetland and a Solar Raceway Pond. The AQUACYCLE team reiterated that in comparison to conventional domestic wastewater treatment technologies, APOC systems bring salient attributes in relation to reduced costs of installation and operation as well as simplicity of design and construction.  

Dr. Khaled Obeid invited the AQUACYCLE team to keep his office informed on the progress with the installation of the APOC demonstration unit. He also expressed a keen interest to explore further the social, economic and environmental benefits the eco-innovative APOC technology could bring to both rural and non-rural communities in North Lebanon.

The AQUACYCLE team warmly thanked Dr. Riad Yarnak and Dr. Khaled Obeid, and invited them to join the upcoming stakeholder workshop in Tripoli on July 25, 2020.