Borealis’ donation to Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy supports water research projects

Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions, announced that the AED 500,000 contribution made to the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy in November 2010 will be used to support two environmental research projects, particularly water sustainability initiatives, across the UAE. The two researches will be conducted by Dr. Ahmed Murad on “Innovative Isotopic Approach to Groundwater Regions in the UAE”, and by Dr. Mohamed Mostafa about the “Groundwater Rise in Al-Ain: A Threat of Blessing?.”

Through their global ”Water for the World™” initiative, Borealis, together with Borouge, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions based in the United Arab Emirates, supports understanding and knowledge related to the sustainable use of water and sanitation. These researches play a vital role within the UAE where the sustainable availability of safe and clean drinking water is a major challenge for the future.

“The contribution made by Borealis to the Emirates Foundation is in line with our corporate social responsibility and is part of our Water for the World portfolio of activities,” said Mark Garrett, Chief Executive of Borealis. “Aiming to enhance our investments in the advancement and growth of the UAE economy and its people, we partnered with the Emirates Foundation due to its leading role in supporting the social and environmental improvements in the country.”

“We believe that Borealis’ appreciative donation to the Foundation will help in understanding the current groundwater condition in the country and thus will contribute to innovative options in addressing the water challenges,” says Dr. Lamya Faisal, Head, Environmental Development Programme at the Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy. “Supporting applied research into local environmental issues, such as clean water sustainability, is one of the most significant areas in which we can apply Borealis’ contribution.” 
  
Dr. Ahmed Murad will be sharing his research work at Borouge’s “Water for the World” and “Troubled Waters” exhibitions being held in Abu Dhabi on March 22-24 in celebration of the global World Water Day. Dr. Murad will share some of his research work that aims to investigate the sources of groundwater and its recharge rate in different areas in the UAE. His initial research work has revealed that the rapid growth in urban development has contributed to an increase in the amount of consumed groundwater.

Research projects
Dr. Murad points out that a relevant previous studies and estimation of reservoirs quantities has been made in the past years revealing that groundwater condition is still far away from a realistic balance between recharge and discharge. This imbalance could threaten the socio-economic infrastructure through inadequate estimate of future changes in the reservoirs (aquifers) productivity. Dr. Murad uses isotopic methods to investigate groundwater properties collected from different aquifers in UAE. The research will present a preliminary overview of using radioactivity as a potential new approach for fingerprinting different groundwater sources in the UAE.

The aim of the second research that will be performed by Dr. Mohamed Mostafa about the groundwater rise in Al-Ain is to improve the management of groundwater resources in Al- Ain in order to alter current and future threats into strategic storage. Dr. Mostafa pointed out that identifying the sources contributing to groundwater rise as well as the current damages and risks associated with it are part of the solution. This resulted in the formation of a current ground level map of Al-Ain, showing hot zones in terms of closeness of groundwater levels to the surface. This research will assist in identifying locations and storage size of these hot zones areas within Al Ain. The resulting map will contribute to saving resources and a great value to decision makers.

Water for the World
The two ongoing researches form part of Borealis’s and Borouge’s global Water for the World programme initiated in 2007 to address the fresh water access and proper sanitation challenges that embody their values and manifest their commitment to social responsibility. Since its launch, Water for the World has directly reached around 260,000 people all over the world and has built a platform for partnerships with stakeholders from the plastics industry, water and sanitation companies and NGO’s.

Through this programme, Borouge is helping people in Northern Pakistan whose villages were severely affected by the flooding in mid-2010. Borouge replaced water distribution networks at these villages with the help of Pakistan's HEED Association and local polyethylene pipe and fittings producer Sun International. Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s major oil and gas companies, and Austria based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions. Borouge is a groundbreaking international partnership at the forefront of the next generation of plastics innovation.

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For further information, please contact:

Kerstin Meckler
Communications Director
+43 122 400 389
kestin.meckler@borealisgroup.com

Craig Halgreen
Vice President, Global Communications, Borouge
+971 2 6070 807
craig.halgreen@borouge.com