Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INDIA-H2O (bIo-mimetic and phyto-techNologies DesIgned for low-cost purficAtion and recycling of water)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2020-08-01 do 2022-01-31
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, where lack of surface water bodies makes it difficult to dispose of effluents safely. Excessive demands on water resources, coupled with salinisation and pollution of groundwater, are serious problems in Europe too. There is much potential benefit in European and Indian scientists working together to tackle these challenges.
INDIA-H2O aims to develop, design and demonstrate low-cost water treatment systems for saline groundwater and for domestic and industrial wastewaters in Gujarat. It will use emerging membrane technologies combined with natural biological processes, to raise the energy efficiency of treatment, reduce costs, and conserve groundwater. Reject waste streams will be minimised or reduced to zero, thus protecting the environment and recovering as much water as possible.
These technologies include novel membrane desalination, based on batch reverse osmosis, that economises in energy and groundwater, reducing operating costs to below €0.35/m3. Forward osmosis membranes will be 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 will used plant-based treatment to remove pollutants from domestic wastewater and to grow edible crops in brine rejected by desalination. For effluents in textile, desalination and dairy industries, we will develop and demonstrate cost-effective treatment for recycling with minimum liquid discharge, using solar energy to break down pollutants and achieve the required water quality. A Centre of Excellence is being established in India, where treatment systems can be tested and demonstrated. Activities such as supply chain mapping, market segmentation, and intellectual property development, will support the development of business models to exploit the solutions to mutual EU/India economic advantage.
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, where lack of surface water bodies makes it difficult to dispose of effluents safely. Excessive demands on water resources, coupled with salinisation and pollution of groundwater, are serious problems in Europe too. There is much potential benefit in European and Indian scientists working together to tackle these challenges.
INDIA-H2O aims to develop, design and demonstrate low-cost water treatment systems for saline groundwater and for domestic and industrial wastewaters in Gujarat. It will use emerging membrane technologies combined with natural biological processes, to raise the energy efficiency of treatment, reduce costs, and conserve groundwater. Reject waste streams will be minimised or reduced to zero, thus protecting the environment and recovering as much water as possible.
These technologies include novel membrane desalination, based on batch reverse osmosis, that economises in energy and groundwater, reducing operating costs to below €0.35/m3. Forward osmosis membranes will be 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 will used plant-based treatment to remove pollutants from domestic wastewater and to grow edible crops in brine rejected by desalination. For effluents in textile, desalination and dairy industries, we will develop and demonstrate cost-effective treatment for recycling with minimum liquid discharge, using solar energy to break down pollutants and achieve the required water quality. A Centre of Excellence is being established in India, where treatment systems can be tested and demonstrated. Activities such as supply chain mapping, market segmentation, and intellectual property development, will support the development of business models to exploit the solutions to mutual EU/India economic advantage.
The INDIA-H2O consortium comprises 18 participating organisations from across EU and India, including universities, research institutes, industries and NGOs. 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.
Consortium members have made a series of site visits to identify locations for the installation of the rural water purification technologies and the industrial processes for improved water recycling. The village of Lodhva, 10 km from the coast, was chosen as the rural demonstration site. Water sampling campaigns were conducted for characterisation of ground- and waste-water samples. In parallel, a 3-week field trip to Lodhva was carried out for close-up understanding of the socio-economic conditions. The field work confirmed the poor quality and availability of water at Lodhva and the unequal access to water.
For the development of the batch reverse osmosis system, a mathematical model has been developed in a format that is readily replicable by different partners in the project. Based on the water quality data and local requirements, the model was used to design a system with 80% recovery and 0.7 m3/hour water output, with specific energy consumption expected below 0.5 kWh/m3. A prototype batch reverse osmosis system has also been installed at University of Birmingham. Forward osmosis (FO) units have been designed to enable reuse of the wastewater, and they will also enable the salinity of the discharged brine to match the requirements of the halophytic crops. Several types of draw solutions for the FO have been synthesised and tested.
Suitable halophytic crops including different species of Salicornia or Sarcocornia, especially a species native to India, have been examined in Israel and India under different levels of salinity and nitrogen fertiliser levels. Exchanges of researchers between India and Israel have helped these investigations.
A phytorid system has been designed for treatment of non-saline wastewater; it is expected to reduce biological oxygen demand by 80-90% with not more than 3% evaporation. A detailed design for an experimental system incorporating all these technologies has been developed, including control and instrumentation details, and put out for tender to India suppliers. This first system will be installed at PDPU, where the Centre of Excellence is under development, and a simplified version of the system will be installed at Lodhva. Regarding the recycling of industrial wastewaters, different technology combinations have been proposed and they are being piloted initially at LEITAT premises in Spain, for later incorporation at the Centre of Excellence.
Consortium members have made a series of site visits to identify locations for the installation of the rural water purification technologies and the industrial processes for improved water recycling. The village of Lodhva, 10 km from the coast, was chosen as the rural demonstration site. Water sampling campaigns were conducted for characterisation of ground- and waste-water samples. In parallel, a 3-week field trip to Lodhva was carried out for close-up understanding of the socio-economic conditions. The field work confirmed the poor quality and availability of water at Lodhva and the unequal access to water.
For the development of the batch reverse osmosis system, a mathematical model has been developed in a format that is readily replicable by different partners in the project. Based on the water quality data and local requirements, the model was used to design a system with 80% recovery and 0.7 m3/hour water output, with specific energy consumption expected below 0.5 kWh/m3. A prototype batch reverse osmosis system has also been installed at University of Birmingham. Forward osmosis (FO) units have been designed to enable reuse of the wastewater, and they will also enable the salinity of the discharged brine to match the requirements of the halophytic crops. Several types of draw solutions for the FO have been synthesised and tested.
Suitable halophytic crops including different species of Salicornia or Sarcocornia, especially a species native to India, have been examined in Israel and India under different levels of salinity and nitrogen fertiliser levels. Exchanges of researchers between India and Israel have helped these investigations.
A phytorid system has been designed for treatment of non-saline wastewater; it is expected to reduce biological oxygen demand by 80-90% with not more than 3% evaporation. A detailed design for an experimental system incorporating all these technologies has been developed, including control and instrumentation details, and put out for tender to India suppliers. This first system will be installed at PDPU, where the Centre of Excellence is under development, and a simplified version of the system will be installed at Lodhva. Regarding the recycling of industrial wastewaters, different technology combinations have been proposed and they are being piloted initially at LEITAT premises in Spain, for later incorporation at the Centre of Excellence.
INDIA-H2O aims to make 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 are expected to make substantial reductions in energy consumption, enabling efficient operation using solar energy. They will increase by 50% the output of drinking water per m3 of groundwater extracted and allow cultivation of edible halophytic crops downstream.
The work on FO draw solutions, if successful, will provide results enabling the deployment of FO technologies in applications driven by an osmotic pressure gradient. This could set the scene for the 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 will 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, will provide 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 will represent 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 work on FO draw solutions, if successful, will provide results enabling the deployment of FO technologies in applications driven by an osmotic pressure gradient. This could set the scene for the 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 will 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, will provide 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 will represent 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.