Scientists from the US, Spain and Greece have won the awards of the sixth Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud International Prize for Water, a leading global scientific award for innovative and pioneering research in water-related fields.
The ceremony was held Monday night, sponsored by Saudi Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
The awards cover fields of surface water, ground water, alternative (non-traditional) water resources, and water conservation. The value of each of the other four awards is SAR 500,000.
A Creativity Prize worth SAR one million is offered to an innovative work in any water-related field.
Head of the Prize board, Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, addressed the ceremony and warned of "water biological terrorism," namely targeting desalination plants, or poisoning rivers, water pipes, wells and groundwater or inundating land by terrorists.
He urged scientists to develop effective mechanisms to help avert potential disasters if terrorism changes strategy and targets water resources.
The Prize seeks to develop the best solutions to overcome rarity of potable water.