bIo-mimetic and phyto-techNologies DesIgned for low-cost purficAtion and recycling of water

Project Information

INDIA-H2O

Grant agreement ID: 820906

DOI

10.3030/820906

Project closed

EC signature date 26 October 2018

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 31 July 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 3 797 087,61

EU contribution

€ 2 551 348,00

Coordinated by

THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - INDIA-H2O (bIo-mimetic and phyto-techNologies DesIgned for low-cost purficAtion and recycling of water)

Reporting period: 2022-02-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Over the next decade the number of people affected by severe water shortages is expected to increase fourfold. Of the 2700 billion m3 hike in water demand forecast for 2030, some 468 billion m3 (17%) is expected to occur in India. Desalination of brackish water and recycling of wastewater hold potential to fill the widening gap, but the cost of energy and the investment in equipment required for desalination and recycling has limited implementation of these technologies.

Groundwater is the major source of water across India, with 85% of the population dependent on it. Much of this groundwater however is of poor quality. Groundwater below 60% of Indian territory is too saline for human consumption or conventional agriculture. Over extraction and pollution of groundwater is making it more and more difficult to access clean water. These issues are especially serious in the arid and industrialised state of Gujarat. Excessive demands on water resources and pollution of groundwater, are serious problems in Europe too.

INDIA-H2O developed, designed and demonstrated low-cost water treatment systems for saline groundwater and for domestic and industrial wastewaters in Gujarat. We used emerging membrane technologies combined with natural biological processes, to raise the energy efficiency of treatment, reduce costs, and conserve groundwater.

These technologies include novel membrane desalination, based on batch reverse osmosis (BRO). Forward osmosis (FO) membranes were developed and piloted in wastewater recovery, including hybrid arrangements with reverse osmosis for further savings in energy and groundwater. Complementary to these membrane technologies, we installed plant-based treatment to remove pollutants from domestic wastewater and to grow edible crops in brine rejected by desalination.

A combination of novel engineering solutions with a BRO, FO, phyto-treatment of wastewater and utilisation of waste brine steams for cultivation of the halophytic crop, Salicornia, have been successfully developed and demonstrated at two locations in Gujarat. Our pilot site in the Guajarati village of Lodhva is currently producing around 800 litres of clean water per hour. Our Centre of Excellence at PDEU demonstrates the small-scale extraction of safe drinking water from brackish groundwater and provides facilities where treatment systems can be tested and demonstrated.

For effluents in textile and dairy industries we developed cost-effective treatment for recycling with minimum liquid discharge. Technological solutions integrating FO and RO indicatie positive environmental impact and strong investment cases.

Activities such as supply chain mapping, market segmentation, and intellectual property development have supported the development of business models to exploit the solutions to mutual EU/India economic advantage.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The INDIA-H2O consortium comprises 18 participating organisations from across EU and India, including universities, research institutes and industries. Consortium members have been working in teams, each dedicated to a specific work package i.e. groundwater desalination, phytoremediation, industrial systems, control systems, water governance, and business development.

INDIA-H2O’s BRO/FO technology has been installed and is operational at two sites in India, one at PDEU and the other at the village of Lodhva, a coastal arid region of Gujarat. Impressive recovery ratios of 70-75% and specific energy consumption for the system of 0.37 kWh/m3 have been achieved. A system control methodology utilising new sensor monitoring has been installed as part of the Lodhva system.

Phyto-treatment solutions have been developed and designed for integration with the BRO/FO technologies. The treatment capacity has been validated in a small wetland construction and larger a larger scale solution has been constructed and will be installed and to treat the wastewater source at PDEU and integrated with the FO/BRO system.

Halophytic crops (Salicornia and Sarcocornia) have been demonstrated as effective recipients of irrigation using brine reject from the BRO system. Plantations of Salicornia and Sarcocornia have been established and harvested at the Lodhva site. Several initiatives have been taken to promote the use of the crop in Gujarat.

Integrated solutions demonstrating the benefits of FO, BRO and nanofiltration have been developed and validated using effluents modelled from dairy, textile and tannery industries. The solutions developed and pilot results have been shown to enable industrial water recycling levels of between 60-80%.

The relevant policy landscape has been analysed and a policy brief directed at India policymakers on sustainable and equitable groundwater management has been produced.

In 2022, a Centre of Excellence in Water Treatment and Management was opened at PDEU, offering state-of-the-art facilities to test water treatment solutions. Additionally, after three successful international water management conferences held at PDEU, a fourth is planned for 2025.

The University of Birmingham has granted a licence for the hybrid batch reverse osmosis technology to spin-out company Salinity Solutions, raising over EUR 1.4 million, and has already reached agreement with British firm Te-Tech Process Solutions to start production of bespoke water treatment solutions.

Meanwhile project partners are also busy exploiting the technology. The Indian Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute is currently commercialising sensor and monitoring technologies developed during the project. Aquaporin in Denmark, developer of the forward osmosis biomimetic membrane technology, has been listed on the Nasdaq Copenhagen, raising EUR 38 million.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

INDIA-H2O has made significant progress beyond the state of the art in water treatment technologies using membrane and bio-mimetic approaches. The combination of novel engineering solutions with new batch-RO/FO membrane technologies have made substantial reductions in energy consumption, enabling efficient operation using solar energy. The Lodhva system can produce seven to 10 cubic metres of safe drinking water a day using only solar power, or up to 20 using the grid. Costing less than 30 rupees per cubic metre, about EUR 0.35 they offer a real lifeline to communities.

The work on FO draw solutions provides results enabling the deployment of FO technologies in industrial applications driven by an osmotic pressure gradient. We have presented benefits of FO to be applied in environments and industrial water treatment where FO is currently restricted by availability of suitable draw solutions.

Detailed new knowledge of aquifer status and related socio-economic and governance strategies have shed new light on approaches to water governance. The development of new phyto-technology based approaches and solutions to the management of wastewater, and their integration into reliable schemes powered by renewable energy, has provided new understanding of opportunities for sustainable water management in rural and semi-urban settings. The novel use of halophytic plants in an integrated water management system to both eliminate harmful brine discharges and concurrently produce commercial crops represents progress in knowledge, as these crops are rarely commercialised in India and little is known about the native species and their potential for use with desalination brines.

The challenge of groundwater salinity in India