The activities in AquaSPICE have been finalized in the third reporting period with technical implementations in the Case Studies (CSs) and deployments of digital tools as well as an analysis of cross-cutting aspects and a broad set of dissemination and exploitation activities. The conceptual Water Efficiency Framework (WEF) has been developed and tested within the CSs, identifying major drivers and barriers for water efficiency measures in industries as well as an evaluation of the Digital Maturity.
For the technical activities, the IMPROVED containers continued to allow the investigation of different treatment technologies including ion exchange and membrane filtration such as ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. The containers, used on the water-stressed Dow’s sites, e.g. in Boehlen and previously in Terneuzen, treated different water streams and demonstrated the feasibility of treatment and reuse options. In the Italian CS, focusing on a hydrogen peroxide production plant, the pilot scale system using membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has been implemented and on-site tests have been performed. In the Belgian CS, data collection continued based on the Real-Time Monitoring (RTM) network of 45 sensors installed along the Albert canal upstream of the Antwerp harbour. The second pillar of the CS involves the industrial cooling processes, investigated in the MERADES pilot, and resource recovery options at BASF, where the IMPROVED containers have been deployed and extensive tests have been performed. In the Romanian CS, pilot tests have been completed on-site with an advanced wastewater treatment process including MBR technology and UV disinfection with water quality monitoring by innovative online flow-cytometry. A focus in the third period was on data analysis. In the Turkish CS, for very challenging wastewater streams from the oil refinery in Izmit, a pilot system with granular sludge has been implemented and ultrafiltration plus reverse osmosis. The core digital offering of AquaSPICE, the WaterCPS, aims to provide advanced water-saving awareness and optimised water efficiency at different industrial levels by synthesising digital twins of industrial and value chain entities. Digital components of the WaterCPS have been designed, developed, and deployed in all CSs. The RTM platform has been developed and sensors have been deployed in all CSs. The dynamic Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) supports the sustainability evaluation. Digital twin components have been implemented for all CSs, including intelligent services (simulation, analytics, optimisation and LCA) into the WaterCPS platform. The dissemination component has delivered a wealth of open information through various channels including a website, social media, and a digital newsletter. AquaSPICE has been presented in various workshops and digital events, scientific publications have been prepared. AquaSPICE pursues a very intensive interaction with a range of stakeholders on the European and site-specific level to pave the way for an impact-oriented project.
