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AN eco-friendly way to cut water wastage has won its Bahraini inventor a $6,000 (BD2,262) environmental award.
Ebrahim Hameed was the kingdom's winner at this year's Ford Motor Company Middle East Conservation and Environmental Grants for his project which allows household water to be used for plants and vegetables.
Mr Hameed, a mechanical maintenance supervisor at Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) came up with his 'Grey Water Utilisation' system as a result of living in Samaheej village, an area which he explained faces a shortage of water resources.
He said: "I felt guilty having to see the water that we use to clean vegetables and fruits go into the sewer."
The system is a process of conserving clean water for the garden while filtering the bad water to the sewage.
He explained: "My project consists of separating the kitchen sink into two parts with two separate drainage systems.
"One is connected to the sewage where the greasy and oily dishes can be cleaned. The other part is what I call the 'Green Sink' used to clean the vegetables and fruits. This part is also to wash for prayers. If need be, we use organic soap to clean the dishes or our hands.
"Water from this part goes straight into the garden.
"The second sink has a grease trap and food catcher on the first part of the sink and it acts as an oil separator and food strainer made of palm tree fabric.
"A similar strainer is also present for the clean side to filter any food particles that may have been missed."
Water from the second sink can also then go onto the garden with the filtered material going into the sewer.
Prior to this year's win, Mr Hameed, 48, also took the Ford award in 2006 in Dubai for his project on recycling household and gardening waste into natural fertiliser using his invention the 'Rotating Compost Maker'. He received a $3,000 grant for that project.
He said: "I participated in this event as I was seeking financial support to fulfil and execute something that is useful to my community as well as the environment."
Mr Hameed believes that his win was all thanks to his passion for conserving the environment and in finding solutions to improve it.
He explained that one of the most important factors for him being environmentally active is the rising rate of global warming and climatic change.
He said: "We have to deal with these issues seriously as we can see the impact of climate change, floods and droughts affecting various parts of the planet.
"The impact of climate change has also reached our region, for example, the cyclone that hit Oman recently. Have we ever heard or seen such impact before!
"My dream is to live in a healthy and clean environment and to see every individual be serious and accountable towards environmental issues."
Mr Hameed also explained that he hoped firms on the island which may have activities causing any sort of pollution would look into the matter seriously.
He said: "It will cost them more in future as the damaging results of these pollution activities will emerge after years."
With his winnings Mr Hameed wants to take the opportunity to show practically the benefits of his projects, conducting presentations wherever possible and assessing the community's reaction.
While already flexing his muscles on creating a new project for next year, Mr Hameed also advises everyone to be more alert about their environment.
He said: "I urge all individuals in the community to rethink their attitudes towards the environment and the next generations.
"My family follows my passion on thinking eco-friendly. My 10-year-old daughter Fatima does not throw fruit peels in the garbage bin, she keeps them for composting."
Mr Hameed, who is also a member of the Environment Friends Society, lives with his wife Lamya, two sons, Mohammed and Mahdi and three daughters Zainab, Zahra and Fatima.
And he is so passionate about the subject of environmental protection that he used it for the basis of a masters degree in business administration from the University of Hull, UK.
The objective of the Ford Grants is to provide financial support to on-going grass roots level projects in the areas of environmental protection, education and conservation engineering.
Since the programme's inception in the GCC and Levant in the year 2000, nearly $800,000 has been granted to individuals who have presented their green ideas and projects.
According to the company, over 100 Middle Eastern environmental projects have benefited from the Ford Motor Company Conservation and Environmental Grants in the past 10 years.
Mr Hameed received his award at the Almoayyed Motors Ford showroom in Sitra.
