Modular treatment and monitoring for water reuse
Background:
A flexible water supply based on treated (re-used) wastewater is becoming increasingly popular worldwide. The quality and quantity of the re-used water is hereby adapted to the requirements of users and depends on the availability of resources. Currently there are still substantial knowledge gaps in regard to implementation of process engineering, the required process quality monitoring and the tools that are most suitable for comprehensive sustainability assessment of user-specific options when using treated wastewater.
Aims:
For these reasons, the project MULTI-ReUse aims at developing flexible and modular process chains for the production of defined water qualities and quantities starting from conventionally treated wastewater. This includes (1) the application and evaluation of fast and reliable monitoring procedures for quality monitoring, (2) the evaluation of different operational procedures with regard to their sustainability and (3) the active transfer of knowledge.
Focus of the work:
MULTI-ReUse consistently implements multi-barrier concepts for the reuse of treated wastewater in industry, agriculture, groundwater recharge and urban water management. New processes and process combinations in the field of membrane technology will be developed. Another focus of work is on innovative methods for online monitoring of microbial loads and degradable organic carbon compounds (assimilable organic carbon (AOC)) enabling improved process hygiene and treatment plant protection (by avoiding excess biofilm formation). The practical implementation will be carried out at the pilot plant in the City of Nordenham (North of Germany). Given the demand of water-intensive industrial customers, the area has a direct need for the reuse of treated wastewater. MULTI-ReUse closes decisive knowledge gaps by rendering process concepts for the reuse of treated wastewater more innovative, more adaptable and more competitive on a worldwide scale.
12/2019: Results and perspectives for practice
