Official government website of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
Qassim University has obtained a patent document from the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property for the innovation of "A system and method for water desalination using a salt-tolerant plant." This innovation utilizes a closed bio-system capable of converting highly saline water into distilled fresh water, operating naturally and producing fresh water in commercial quantities.
The research team, led by Dr. Abdulaziz bin Bani Al-Harbi, with the participation of Dr. Miqdad Rabhi and Dr. Ahmed Al-Zohayri, has developed this system which operates for an extended period without requiring any intervention. This helps solve the challenge of water desalination sustainably using solar energy without the need for other power sources. This innovation opens a new window in scientific research for an environmentally friendly and economically low-cost mechanism for desalinating highly saline water.
This innovation comes as part of the "University Staff Patent Registration Project," one of the initiatives of the Vice Presidency for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, represented by the Innovation and Intellectual Property Center. This project aims to improve the local and international ranking of the university in terms of patent registrations, as well as contribute to motivating university staff to transform their inventions and research ideas into protected products with economic returns.
It should be noted that this new water desalination system has been designed to be completely transparent, allowing sunlight to enter through precise engineering calculations into an environment containing halophytic plants floating directly on the water. The gas exchange of the plants has been taken into account to create a miniature ecosystem that lasts for a long time, during which the naturally produced desalinated water is collected.
