Joint commitment to water without microplastics and micropollutants

The demand for for­ward-look­ing waste­water treat­ment is grow­ing with the increas­ing pres­sure for more cli­mate and envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion. Microplas­tics and microp­ol­lu­tants pose com­plex chal­lenges for waste­water treat­ment plants. The three treat­ment stages com­mon­ly used to date are reach­ing their lim­its in the face of a wide vari­ety of pol­lu­tion sit­u­a­tions. Inno­v­a­tive process­es for the removal of microp­ol­lu­tants and microplas­tics are in the start­ing blocks and promise greater effi­cien­cy in process and purifi­ca­tion per­for­mance. These process­es include Water 3.0 PE‑X® and Advanox™ + MicrOx™. A first-time com­par­a­tive long-term study is now start­ing at the Lan­dau-Mörl­heim waste­water treat­ment plant to inves­ti­gate how these process­es can be effec­tive­ly used and com­bined in munic­i­pal waste­water treatment.

The cooperation partners are relying on synergy effects

The Lan­dau-Mörl­heim waste­water treat­ment plant has been the devel­op­ment site of the non-prof­it Green­Tech com­pa­ny Wass­er 3.0 from Karl­sruhe for many years. The Wass­er 3.0 PE‑X® process based on hybrid sil­i­ca gels for use in munic­i­pal waste­water is cur­rent­ly being test­ed there in a twelve-month long-term tri­al. This is now being extend­ed to include the Advanox™ + MicrOx™ process based on oxi­da­tion by hydro­gen per­ox­ide and UV‑C light.

The aim of the joint project between Van Rem­men UV Tech­nol­o­gy, Noury­on and Water 3.0 is to eval­u­ate the pos­si­ble com­bi­na­tions of Advanox™ + MicrOx™ and Water 3.0 PE‑X®, their effi­cien­cy and cost-effec­tive­ness. In addi­tion, the microp­ol­lu­tant removal of both process­es will be ana­lyzed and compared.

Based on the lat­est research results of Water 3.0 in the field of microplas­tics detec­tion, the com­par­a­tive long-term study will also use con­tin­u­ous process con­trol for the first time, which should enable high process effec­tive­ness. The process is also respon­si­ble for the sci­en­tif­ic man­age­ment of the study.

Hybrid silica gels for water purification

The process is a new approach in munic­i­pal and indus­tri­al (waste) water treat­ment. Non-tox­ic hybrid sil­i­ca gels and sophis­ti­cat­ed low-tech equip­ment are flex­i­bly adapt­able and scal­able to dif­fer­ent pol­lu­tion sce­nar­ios with microplas­tics and microp­ol­lu­tants. As a fil­ter-free clump & skim process, it is used as a stand-alone solu­tion or inte­grat­ed into exist­ing processes.

This removal tech­nol­o­gy is part of the detect | remove | reuse strat­e­gy. It stands for a sus­tain­ably thought-out approach to microplas­tics and microp­ol­lu­tants in water. While a nov­el detec­tion process for microplas­tics enables resource and removal effi­cien­cy, the reuse of the removed agglom­er­ates and process waters make water treat­ment bioe­co­nom­i­cal­ly and cir­cu­lar­ly desirable.

Advanced Oxidation Process combining UV‑C light and hydrogen peroxide.

Van Rem­men UV Tech­nol­o­gy and Noury­on have joined forces in a unique part­ner­ship that offers a com­plete cus­tomized solu­tion for the removal of phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals and oth­er microp­ol­lu­tants with an Advanced Oxi­da­tion Process (AOP). The expan­sion of AOP con­cepts is at the fore­front of joint devel­op­ment projects that reduce lev­els of pes­ti­cides, drug residues, cyanide, x‑ray con­trast agents and oth­er com­plex organ­ic pol­lu­tants in water. The Advanox™ + MicrOx™ process com­bines UV‑C light with hydro­gen per­ox­ide to effec­tive­ly oxi­dize per­sis­tent microp­ol­lu­tants. It is a clean tech­nol­o­gy with no harm­ful byproducts.

Advanox™ reac­tors have been specif­i­cal­ly designed and opti­mized for the pho­tol­y­sis and oxi­da­tion of microp­ol­lu­tants with UV‑C light and the addi­tion of hydro­gen peroxide.

Hydro­gen per­ox­ide is a ver­sa­tile prod­uct and is used in a wide vari­ety of appli­ca­tions. It is known as an envi­ron­men­tal­ly safe prod­uct that decom­pos­es only in oxy­gen and water; it is an essen­tial ingre­di­ent in envi­ron­men­tal appli­ca­tions such as water and waste gas treat­ment. Noury­on pro­duces hydro­gen per­ox­ide in a sus­tain­able and resource-effi­cient man­ner that is eval­u­at­ed across the val­ue chain.