Smart, flexible, decentralized water treatment

Project Information

M-NBS

Grant agreement ID: 854782

DOI

10.3030/854782

Project closed

EC signature date 28 January 2019

Start date 1 February 2019

End date 30 June 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

AYALA WATER & ECOLOGY LTD
Israel

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - M-NBS (Smart, flexible, decentralized water treatment)

Reporting period: 2019-02-01 to 2019-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Most small agglomerations in the EU are not connected to wastewater treatment (WWT) due to limited economic and technical resources. This is especially problematic for many touristic facilities that constantly fail to meet effluent discharge limits due to insufficient WWT capacity during the holiday season. Current options in the market have high CAPEX and OPEX, and they rely on a steady electric supply, which makes them unaffordable and often impractical for this target niche. Ayala is bringing PM-NBS to the market, a nature-based, modular and portable WWT technology that provides the most cost-effective and immediate solution for remote wastewater treatment.

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

During Phase 1 we have carried out a thorough market analysis to select our target countries based on the main drivers for the implementation of nature-based wastewater treatment: the need to comply with European directives in a cost-effective manner and without the minimum energy input. This has led to a well-defined commercial strategy, which will start by Spain, Greece, Albania, Montenegro and Bulgaria (2022-2023), followed by other Mediterranean countries (2024-2025) and opening to the international market after 2026. We have also confirmed our Freedom to Operate and analyzed the relevant regulation concerning the transport of our modules to the EU. Our plants are not restricted in the EU so we will require a phytosanitary certificate and to make sure our local distributors in the EU are registered professional operators by the competent authorities and are allowed to issue plant passports for our plants. Finally, we have rethought our supply chain in order to accommodate the possibility of collaborating with local suppliers in each target country.

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)

PM-NBS is able to meet the stricter discharge limits immediately; it can be delivered to any location with a single truck; it does not need electricity to operate; it does not need mechanical or human intervention, which results in very low maintenance costs by means of gardening; it is stable at variable flows in all climates; and it has a minimal maintenance schedule, with no technical staff required. We expect to be selling 325 units per year after 5 years of commercialization, which translates into €43.5M cumulative revenues, €12.2M accumulated profits and a ROI of 5.94 and the creation of 15 job positions.

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