WE Africa, the Membrane Knowledge Hub project under the Brew-Hammond Energy Centre, KNUST, has organized a four-day training session for postgraduate students and industry professionals, including participants from the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL).
The programme focused on building capacity in membrane technologies to address pressing water and energy challenges.
Giving an overview of the initiative, Dr. Bennetta Koomson, Principal Investigator for WE Africa, highlighted the importance of leveraging expertise from international partners to address pressing energy and water challenges
“We are trying to leverage on expertise from our partners to be able to solve energy and water-related issues on the use of membrane and how to design membranes using the wave path, to understand the filtration system very well and see how we can design using our locally available materials,” she said.
She emphasized the centrality of clean water to human survival.
“Water is life, so we need to know how to handle our resources very well,” she added.
Dr. Koomson expressed excitement about the involvement of industry players, particularly the GWCL in the training session.
Prof. Mathias Ulbricht of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, delivered a session on Introduction to Membrane Technologies and Applications for Water Treatment. He described membranes as essential tools in modern filtration processes, highlighting their efficiency in addressing global water challenges.
“Membranes can be considered as filters, and they are used for particle separation,” he said.
He emphasized their application in the production of high-quality drinking water, adding that membranes promote sustainability by reducing chemical use and energy demand in treatment systems.
The first day ended with a question-and-answer session, giving participants the opportunity to engage experts on the practical applications of membrane design and use.
WE Africa brings together partners from Germany, Ghana, Egypt, and Morocco to develop solutions in water and energy management through membrane technology.