All of us at DESAL are proud to celebrate Sara Algurab on the successful completion of her Master’s degree — an important milestone that reflects her dedication, perseverance, and scientific excellence.

Sara’s thesis, “Optimization of In-Situ Cleaning Protocols and Pre-Treatment Plan for Produced Water Treatment through the FO-MD System,” addresses one of the most pressing challenges in water sustainability and resource recovery: the treatment and reuse of hypersaline produced water, one of the largest wastewater streams generated by the oil and gas industry.

Her research focused on advancing a hybrid Forward Osmosis–Membrane Distillation (FO-MD) system for produced water treatment, with particular attention to two key barriers affecting long-term operation: membrane cleaning and feed pretreatment.

Through her work, Sara developed an innovative in-situ cleaning protocol designed to protect both FO and MD membranes, despite their different chemical sensitivities. She also optimized a pretreatment strategy to reduce fouling and support more stable system performance. These contributions help advance more sustainable approaches to water reuse, resource recovery, and long-term water security.

Reflecting on her Master’s journey, Sara shared that what began as a goal to simply make a system work evolved into a deeper understanding of the science behind its challenges. Through patient troubleshooting, investigating membrane wetting and fouling mechanisms, and learning from experiments that did not always go as planned, she discovered that true success lies not only in achieving results, but in understanding the process behind them.

When asked about her proudest achievement, Sara highlighted the importance of designing experiments that answer the right scientific questions rather than simply generating data. One of her biggest lessons was that persistence, careful observation, and rigorous troubleshooting often matter more than any single breakthrough idea. For Sara, the most meaningful results came from staying committed to solving problems long after the first solution failed.

And this is only the beginning.

Sara will continue this important line of research by pursuing a PhD focused on antifouling approaches beyond chemical interventions, exploring more sustainable, long-term strategies for managing membrane fouling and advancing water treatment technologies.

Please join us in congratulating Sara Algurab on this outstanding achievement and wishing her continued success in the next chapter of her academic and professional journey.

Learn more about Sara:
https://desal.kaust.edu.sa/people/team/details/sara-algurab