Project description
Improving efficiency for cleaner water
Today's wastewater treatment process has evolved over many thousands of years, but there is still room for improvement. Modern wastewater treatment plants are not capable of removing substances such as Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Antibiotic Resistance Genes from the environment. In this context, the EU-funded project PURAQUA will work to improve wastewater treatment quality. Specifically, it will develop photoactive membranes with antifouling properties, through additive manufacturing. This can be applied as a post-treatment process after the conventional wastewater treatment. For instance, the project will produce new active and stable photoactive catalysts. It will prepare antifouling membranes by additive manufacturing. A prototype reactor for wastewater treatment at continuous flow will also be developed.
Objective
Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not effective in removing substances from our daily basis, acting as the main release point of Contaminants of Emerging Concerns (CECs), Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (ARB) and Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARGs) to the environment. Aligned with sustainable development goals, recently, the European Commission approved minimum requirements at the European level to reuse safely treated wastewater as an alternative source for irrigation to cope with water scarcity. PURAQUA aims to enhance wastewater treatment efficiency at a lower cost by developing photoactive membranes with antifouling properties, through additive manufacturing, that can be applied as a post-treatment process after the conventional WWTPs. This challenge will be tackled by: i) producing new highly active and stable photoactive catalysts; ii) preparing antifouling membranes by addictive manufacturing; and iii) designing and developing a prototype reactor for wastewater treatment at continuous flow. The proper design and fabrication of 3D printed photoactive membranes will allow the generation of reactive species at the membrane surface for the oxidation of persistent pollutants, enhancing the water permeability at higher and more constant permeate flux with an impact on the treatment cost.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processes
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringirrigation
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysis
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
3810-193 Aveiro
Portugal