CoRe Water pilot – from WWTP to sustainable water factory
New treatment concept for municipal wastewater
What do we see here?
This 40-foot shipping container is part of the CoRe Water project and has been set up temporarily at KWR’s site. CoRe Water, which stands for Concentrate, Recover & Reuse, revolves around an innovative treatment concept, in which municipal wastewater is first concentrated before undergoing further treatment. There is a pilot installation inside the container which is being used to test the concentration step – the concept’s main component. The testing is done using clean water, to determine whether all the technical components and the controls are working properly. The pilot will then be taken to the wastewater treatment plant at Roermond for applications with wastewater.
What's this pilot for?
Inside the CoRe Water container there is a completely new technology for the treatment of domestic wastewater. The technology is based on the Forward Osmosis (FO) principle. A strong salt solution draws the water through an FO membrane as a result of an osmotic pressure differential. The solution is then subjected to Reverse Osmosis (RO), in which pump pressure is used to press and purify water from the solution. In this manner, the salt solution is regenerated. The key step consists of the direct production from wastewater of clean water containing no microorganisms or organic micropollutants. Thanks to the initial concentration of the wastewater, the post-treatment requires less energy, and raw materials can be more easily recovered than in a traditional wastewater treatment plant.
Who is behind this?
CoRe Water is being conducted by a consortium of Water Authorities and research partners. The project is co-funded by the premium scheme of the Top Sector Alliances for Knowledge and Innovation (TKIs) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The consortium consists of the Limburg Water Authority Company, the Rijn and IJssel Water Authority, and the Vallei and Veluwe Water Authority, which aim, through the project, to gain a clearer understanding of the technical and, most of all, the economic potential of this innovative wastewater treatment concept. The research partners are: BLUE-tec, as the concept’s supplier, RHDHV, Allied Waters and KWR.
