Objective
This project aims to break through the market barriers for the introduction of ceramic membrane solutions, by the implementation of the first full scale ceramic membrane plant for the treatment of waste water produced by drinking water companies. The expectation is that if one major end-user invests in a ceramic membrane solution, the barrier for other potential users will be lowered significantly. Also, by showing that ceramic membrane solutions have significant environmental benefits, the high performance of ceramic membranes is guaranteed over long periods of time and the lower operational costs outweigh the initial higher investment costs, the market introduction for ceramic membrane solutions should be boosted.
5 to 10% of extracted source water for drinking water production is turned into waste water. In conventional water treatment this means that 5 to 10% of this valuable resource is not used for drinking water. This waste water is produced by periodical rinsing of the rapid sand filters and is known as backwash water. Backwash water contains iron and manganese mainly present in the form of suspended solids. This type of water is challenging to purify, as the high particle load results in fouling problems in state of the art installations causing high energy consumption and required chemical inputs.
In the past 15 years a lot of research has been performed on ceramic membranes. Even though this robust technology offers substantial benefits for the treatment of difficult to treat water, the technology has not been incorporated by the drinking water sector. The higher initial investment costs and the fact that the long term performance has not been proven in practice (hence: the technique is still not being regarded as proven technology) are major barriers for market introduction in the water sector.
This project will realise the first full scale implementation of an innovative ceramic membrane solution, reusing 99% of produced backwash water.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
CIP-EIP-Eco-Innovation-2011
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Coordinator
ALMELO
Netherlands