Water is a limited resource in the EU, with one third of the EU territory experiencing water stress. high-purity water is essential in industrial applications - for manufacturing, in cooling towers, as boiler feed water rinsing, cleaning and ensuring product quality- in Europe and worldwide. In Europe, close to three quarters of freshwater is consumed by the industrial sector. By 2020, the market for industrial water treatment technologies is expected to grow 50% (UN WWDR 2017). According to the OECD (2012), water demand for manufacturing is projected to increase by 400% over the period 2000–2050. As a result of AQUAU-PURTM Lean Canvas, BIOAZUL has identified main 3 facts related to the market opportunity for BIOAZUL to enter with this solution in the market: a) High demand of purified water at industrial level; b) inefficient current purification systems; and c) need to reduce their industrial ecological footprint.
A broad market penetration of AQUA-PUR™ can save Europe more than 120 million m3 water per year in consumption by the fact of the high wastewater reused rate. The environmental and social benefits can be summarized as follows: 1) High water and energy efficiency lead to a water efficiency surpassing 97% as well as 45% in energy savings and 60% of CO2-emissions reduction during water purification processes; 2) Boost of the competitiveness of the European industrial clients, fulfilling already upcoming changes in legislation. It will make them more sustainable in terms of corporate environmental responsibility; 3) Elimination of chemical softener in targeted industrial applications, thereby actively preventing the development of alkali soil; and 4) Substantial reduction of fresh water consumption of targeted industries and therefore the pressure of water resources.
Main objectives, linked to the AQUA-PURTM selling points are: (1) Evidenced higher water and energy savings rates, resulting in a high cost-effectiveness; (2) Reduced fresh water input and wastewater discharge costs, which will lead to a fast pay-back period of 12-18 month; (3) Easy handling and low maintenance costs (no pre-treatment required & long membrane life time); (4) Compact (small footprint) and totally automated (all the operation parameters are online-monitored and automatically or manually adjusted in a programmable logic controller); (5) Quick, easy and inexpensive installation. The commissioning of the plant is a “plug and play” process; (6) Environment and climate protection
