Discussion Questions for Moshe Herzberg at follow-up Luncheon:

Q: Why did you choose to pursue this area of research?

A: In Israel, where most of the environment is desert, there is not a lot of fresh water available so desalination is important to provide the people clean water.  My job is to find the most efficient ways to clean water by reverse osmosis.

 

Q: Compare the facilities that you use in Israel to those you have seen elsewhere in your research.

A: The Ashkelon Desalination plant is the 2nd largest reverse osmosis plant in the world where we can treat over 100,000,000 m^3/year.

 

Q:  What are your current efforts to make your process more efficient with regards to biofouling?

A: the main problem with the filtration process is the lifetime of the filters. Learning how to extend the lifetime of the filters is very important economically.

 

Q: What method do you use most when testing for biofoulants?

A: The QCM measures how the adsorption of biofoul affects the oscillating frequency of a quartz crystal while connected to a power source. The more mass the lower the frequency. This lets us see the rate of adsorption of biofoul.

 

Q: What were your first impressions of Lafayette?

A: You have a beautiful institution here.  Great facilities to do research and a great atmosphere.