FSMA Spotlights: Sewage Network Data as a Potential Tool for Cholera Outbreak Prediction

In this webinar, FSMA Spotlights showcases an award-winning project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation aimed to identify areas suitable for sewage treatment plants in Lebanon and assess the feasibility of a new sludge treatment technique, the omniprocessor. Unfortunately, the project revealed that most of the sewage networks were not connected to the treatment plants and that all of the treatment plants had been shut down due to the economic collapse resulting in a 200% inflation rate in early 2023.


Despite this setback, the data collected during this project was still valuable and was shared with government officials and funders to highlight the potential risk of a cholera outbreak in the country, given the lack of functioning treatment plants and the extensive, untreated sewage networks.


The presentation will be followed by a Q&A discussion.



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The FSMA Spotlights webinar series aims to highlight key aspects and discussions around FSM and the sanitation service chain.


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Registration is free and open to the public.

Speakers

  • Tony Habib

    Tony Habib

    Tony Habib is a graduate of Cleveland State University, located in Cleveland, OH, with a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering.
    Tony began his career in thermal hydraulic research. He conducted a variety of analytical and experimental test programs, including thermal and fluids research of single- and two-phase
    flow in liquid and gas transport and separation. He was part of the team that built and tested the model that was used to evaluate the loss of coolant at Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor. He also led the development effort of several boiler cleaning products, including the highperformance supersonic nozzles for severely fouled boilers firing solid fuels.

    In the last 20 years, Tony became a leading expert in material handling and water clarification. He has been instrumental in solving a variety of material handling project challenges in
    continental USA and around the world. Tony has applied his analytical skills, scientific knowledge, and extensive experience to solve complex engineering problems in the power industry.
    Tony has been volunteering in the past year to help solve sanitation issue in his native country,
    Lebanon. Tony holds over twelve US patents related to boiler cleaning, water clarification, and material handling.

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  • Najat Aoun Saliba (Member of Lebanese Parliament)

    Najat Aoun Saliba

    Member of Lebanese Parliament

    NA. Saliba is currently a member of the Parliament of the Lebanese Government. She is also a Professor in Chemistry at the American University of Beirut. Saliba leads several projects related to understanding the chemistry of inhalable tobacco and non-tobacco smoke and atmospheric aerosols. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, Dr. Saliba has collaborated with many colleagues from the health, engineering, and social science sectors to bring a holistic view to the air pollution problems in the region.

    In addition, many of her most recent projects concentrate on community-led environmental projects that are based on the co-production of knowledge for finding the most suited local solutions. She was the co-founder and executive director of Khaddit Beirut and the Director and co-founder of the Environment Academy (EA). NA Saliba has given numerous keynote addresses and presentation at UN and Ministerial conferences. She has over 100 publications that are well cited and in 2021, she serves as a Member of the Scientific Board of the International Basic Science Programme (IBSP) at UNESCO and as a Chair of a Technical Advisory Group on the Global Air Quality Platform and Health (GAPH-TAG) at WHO.

    Also, in 2021, she was nominated by Apolitical’s the 12 most influential people in climate justice and 100 most influential people in Gender Policy. In 2019, she received the 2019
    L’Oreal-UNESCO International Award for Women in Science, the National Order of the Cedar from the President of the Lebanese Republic, the Honorary Cedar Shield from the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon and the Paul Harris Fellow Pin from the Rotary Club Beirut Cedars. Also, in 2019 she was voted among the top 100 most influential women by BBC. In 2016 she received the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research Award in the Environmental Category.

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