The Faculty of Graduate Studies awarded the researcher Israa Sbaih a Master’s Degree in Engineering in Water and Environment in response to her thesis entitled “Life Cycle Assessment of Water Desalination Technologies Powered with Solar Energy in Al-Fashkha Springs, Palestine”.
This study will solve the shortage of fresh water in Al-Murashahat area by using Al-Fashkha springs water source and applying the best water desalination technology from environmental and cost aspects. This will be through designing RO system which serves the area and choosing the best energy source by evaluating them in terms of their life cycle assessment.
In this study a life cycle analysis was performed on three RO desalination systems, The first system is RO system operated by solar energy (RO-PV system). The second system is RO system operated by electricity generated from coal (RO-coal electricity system). The third system is RO system operated by electricity generated from natural gas (RO-natural gas electricity system). The openLCA software, Ecoinvent database was used, and the CML baseline LCIA method was chosen for the evaluation of systems impact on its 10 categories for functional unit of 50 m3/day. 
For all systems, it was found that the water distribution process contributes most to the overall environmental impact followed by the operation process. Across all impact categories the RO-PV system has the least environmental impact, however the RO-coal electricity system has the largest environmental impact.
The cost of water produced from RO system operated by electricity generated from coal or natural gas is lower than the cost of water produced from RO-PV system.
The committee consisted of: Dr. Hamdallah Berat as a main supervisor and Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Al-Sayed as a second supervisor, Dr. Afeef Hasan as an external examiner and Dr. AbdelRahim Abu Safa as an internal examiner.
At the end of the session, the committee approved the success of the researcher and recommended her a Master’s degree.