MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members,

After a difficult 2020, both personally and in terms of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to share this Winter Issue of IDA Global Connections, showcasing new developments and exciting new projects. Our biennial IDA International Water Reuse and Recycling Conference in Rome, Italy, will take place in less than six months. Firmly focused on promoting water reuse, discussions will address best practices in water reuse and recycling. Topics like government policies and regulations, financial challenges, new technologies, industrial water needs, and innovative research will lead the exchange among experts. I encourage you to join us.

And towards the end of the year, we look forward to meeting you again at the 2022 IDA World Congress in Sydney, Australia to discuss technology and innovative solutions that will help increase the water supply for millions of people and industries. As in the Dubai 2019 IDA World Congress, top companies, researchers, academics, and professionals from the desalination and reuse sector will gather.

Water scarcity, population growth, and demand for water for industrial use are driving rapid growth in wastewater reuse. In terms of installed capacity, the USA is currently the largest market for reuse (31%), followed closely by China (30%). Europe is not far behind either. In May 2020, the EU approved new regulations on water reuse, for the first time establishing minimum requirements for its safe use in agriculture and preserving bodies of freshwater and groundwater. In 2021, this trend is expected to expand geographically, and in the years to come, we will achieve reuse records on all continents.

But let's not forget about desalination, which, although it is a more mature and widely implemented technology, also continues to grow in different areas experiencing a water shortage.

In Egypt, work is underway on a new water desalination plan, as was previously done in other countries, and currently in Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reverse osmosis projects continue to be developed, replacing thermal plants. Lastly, new desalination projects are expected to be launched soon in both Africa and Latin America, with a particular emphasis on the industrial sector in the latter case.

There are many countries in which public policies regarding desalination and reuse have been a success, guaranteeing water supply for different uses: drinking water, urban, agricultural, industrial uses. Australia, the country that will host our next IDA World Congress, deserves special mention for its groundbreaking reuse and desalination policies between 2007-2015 and its current commitment to renewable water and energy solutions. As I have stressed on numerous occasions: with political will and public awareness, increasing drinking water supply through new and modern infrastructure is possible. The role of investors and philanthropists is equally important to evoke change and growth in our sector. I am pleased that our cover story features such an example. Mr. Fady Jameel, Deputy President and Vice Chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, is an 'activist-investor' making a magnanimous effort in the fight against climate change. The initiatives he is leading with his family company both at the corporate and philanthropic levels to increase and improve the supply of water, as well as its treatment, are impressive.

I hope you enjoy reading this special issue of IDA Global Connections.

Best regards and see you soon.

Carlos Cosin IDA President