Separation at source

There is an increasing interest for small-scale water production and wastewater treatment technologies. In Wetsus, both subjects are addressed in the research program of the 'separation at source' theme.

Production of water
Goal is the development of effective and reliable technologies to remove unwanted compounds (like MTBE) (1) from water that is intended for utilization. The technologies that are under development should be able to work on small scale and stand-alone. In order to guarantee the supply of reliable water to customers, remote monitoring will be required for process and quality control. This will be one of the research topics. Further focus will be on adsorption technology (2) and biological safety of the produced water.

(1) Contamination of ground water with MTBE

(2) Conversion of natural materials into activated carbon

Separation at source
In order to reach sustainability objectives like water reuse, recovery of resources and energy saving, separation of wastewater streams at source (3) is required. This statement is valid for both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment. For this reason, there is a clear demand for stand alone, decentralized and sustainable water treatment technology. In Wetsus' research program in this field, biotechnology and adsorption are the main scientific approaches.

(3) Separation of wate water streams at source