Project description
Maintaining minerals in our drinking-water
Water is the molecule of life. It is essential for hydration and all our bodily functions. Calcium and magnesium are also essential to human health. Drinking water is an important source of mineral intake. The bioavailability of magnesium from drinking water is 12 times higher than in solid tablets. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the remineralisation of water with calcium and magnesium. The EU-funded WMT project has developed a novel water mineralisation process through the exploitation of the little-known physical phenomenon of developed hydrodynamic cavitation and vaporous and gaseous supercavitation. A major plus, this process can recover and re-use CO2 generated during the initial carbonation phase, eliminating a waste stream that currently adds to the high cost of desalination.
Objective
Climate change & water stress are changing the way we source drinking water. Although we have the technology to “clean” our drinking water, the same processes also strip out minerals essential to maintaining human health – especially water from desalination plants.
Calcium & magnesium are macrominerals essential to human health: insufficient intake of either can increase the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes & neurodegenerative diseases. Water is not considered a major source of minerals, but it should be: the bioavailability of magnesium dissolved in water is 12 times higher than in solid tablets/capsule. As such, the WHO recommends that where possible the water should be re-mineralized with calcium and magnesium.
Remineralization has proved to be prohibitively expensive, laborious & limited in impact due to creating significant waste streams. There are no available solutions to cost effectively add magnesium to water & adding calcium is fraught with issues.
Watefy have revolutionized the water mineralization process through the exploitation of the little-known physical phenomenon of developed hydrodynamic cavitation & vaporous and gaseous supercavitation. To exploit this phenomenon, we have designed WMT – a simple, modular mineralization system, comprised of a Gasifier, Calcite/Magnesium Dissolver & Degasser. This revolutionary process, currently at TRL 6, overcomes the existing challenges of high cost in terms, reducing construction & maintenance costs by over 90%. This process is the first to recover & re-use CO2 generated during the initial carbonation phase, eliminating a waste stream that currently adds to the high cost of desalination. Operational costs are reduced by 95% for producing high quality, healthy water. The company is looking for funding to validate the technology at industrial scale & transform the water industry beginning with desalination plants, expected to reach €23.9 billion by 2025.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes drinking water treatment processes
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry alkaline earth metals
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology colorectal cancer
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases
- engineering and technology chemical engineering separation technologies desalination
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
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H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4940304 PETAH TIKVA
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.