At present, several projects are underway:
- Evaluation of the use of aluminum and iron water treatment residuals (Al/Fe-WTR) to recapture phosphorous from agro-industrial wastewaters (WW) and reapply it as fertilizer in selected crops.
- Development of new technologies that involve integrated systems, including the use of halophytes to treat dairy WW by removing sodium, enabling use of the WW for irrigation.
- Testing the combined application of compost and zeolites to improve the nutrient status of selected crops (we recently introduced this idea of improving initial planting conditions in a re-afforestation study of semi-arid and Mediterranean watersheds).
- A study of specialized wetland techniques of nutrient removal from soil leachates in intensive farming settings.
- Evaluation of the impact of eco-tourism practices on the fate and transport of N and P in reconstructed wetland complexes.
Most recently, we have begun exploring an integrated system of proximal soil survey techniques and advanced geo-statistical methodologies, coupled with advanced computations, to evaluate the spatial variations of soil fertility in the context of precision agriculture.
The research in the hydro-geochemistry lab is currently supported by grants from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the US-Israel BARD project, and the BRIGAID project of Horizon 2020.
