A practical solution to develop a low cost and efficient detection technology for metal contaminated wastewater
Industrial wastewater, contaminated by heavy metals, migrates to surface and underground water sources. Heavy metals are elements that have a high density and are toxic or poisonous even at low concentrations. In addition to wastewater, sewer sludge, the residual semi-solid material remaining from urban and industrial wastewater treatment processes, also contains high levels of heavy metals. Consortium members of the METELCAD project recognized that with the advent of increasing environmental EC Directives, there is a critical need in Europe to develop a low cost, and efficient detection technology for metal contaminated wastewater to safeguard public health and reduce pollution and clean up costs. METELCAD device aimed to detect heavy metal presence in wastewater before it is released into the environment or before it reaches the sludge stage. The commercial objective of the project is to develop an on-line, low maintenance, on-site, continuous monitoring technology utilizing electrolyte cathode glow discharge technique to monitor heavy metal contaminated wastewaters that are loaded with high fat emulsion. This cost-effective technology facilitates compliance with EU environmental legislation in a business-friendly manner, facilitating industrial wastewater management. The developed technology is also relevant to other industrial sectors including ferrous and non-ferrous metal industries. Based on the specifications, functional specifications resulting from the market analysis as well a technical specifications from previous tasks, the experimental METELCAD device was constructed. The electric and hydraulic connections were designed to be compact and handy, and to ensure smooth working conditions. This initial prototype was housed in a plastic box, with any necessary adjustments being made to suit testing in a field environment. Parallel with physical integration a control panel, software and hardware specifications for operation and PC communication was developed. The control of the METELCAD system is divided into two parts: the microcontroller with an embedded software, that is built in the METELCAD measurement unit and a PC based software, which also acts as an interface for user communication. The microcontrollers control the individual units of the system. The pre-competitive METALCAD prototype was constructed within the project framework and successfully tested in different field tests.