decentralised wastewater treatment -...

Decentralised Wastewater Treatment

www.spin-project.eu

Project part-financed by theEuropean Union (EuropeanRegional Development Fund)

2

Imprint

This broschure has been produced with the assistance of the European Union (http://europa.eu). The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Imprint

Published by: UmweltbundesamtWörlitzer Platz 106844 Dessau-Roßlau

Edited by: UmweltbundesamtWörlitzer Platz 106844 Dessau-Roßlau

Design: design_idee_erfurt GbR, Erfurt

Printed by: BMU

Photo credits:Cover: Uwe MerkelPage 4: alphaspirit/Fotolia.comPage 4+5: Patrizia Tilly/Fotolia.comPage 18: IStockphotoPage 19: Andrei Merkulov/Fotolia.com

3

Content

Preface Decentralised Wastewater Treatment 4

SPIN Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Highlights

BUSSE GmbH: Membrane filtration (MF) for wastewater treatment 6

utp umwelttechnik pöhnl GmbH: kläropro® wastewater treatment 8

Bergmann Abwassertechnik GmbH: WSB® clean 9

Batch operated wastewater treatment filter system 10

Alnarp Cleanwater Technology: ACT Natural 11

BAGA Water Technology: BAGA Easy 12

AquaTeq Sweden AB: EcoVee® 13

ENKOSYSTEM: New concept of decentralised wastewater treatment 14

Biomimetic Water Purification / Extraction 15

Supervision and control systems for harvesting of environmental resources through wireless internet technology, WEB and smartphones 16

The SPIN Project 18

4

Decentralised Wastewater Treatment

Decentralised wastewater treatment in the BSR and the EU

Semi- and decentralised concepts of water supply and sew-age disposal infrastructure are of crucial importance with regard to forthcoming climate and demographic changes in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Decentralised treatment systems for domestic wastewater are also of great importance in terms of lowering the loads of nutrients introduced into the Baltic Sea, decreasing the eutrophication potential. In rural areas and small settlements they are more able to adapt to yet uncertain challenges than the established centrally- structured infrastructure. The latter is in addition much more expensive to install and maintain. Capital lockup of big centralised water treatment plants lasts for several decades.

Pivotal elements of a more decentralised infrastructure are not only the installation of such wastewater treatment sys-tems for small settlements as well as remote private homes, hotels and SMEs, but also the conditioning and reuse of rain and grey water. In this context, rainwater management is of special relevance as it reduces the impact of extreme pre-cipitation on the environment and, at the same time, enables the replenishment of groundwater reservoirs. Another key technology for upgrading all sorts of raw and wastewater is membrane fi ltration, which shows its superior potential whenever the conventional technology reaches its limits.

The European Water Framework Directive (2000/60EC) and subordinate regulations support the introduction of tech-niques-, which ensure a sustainable use of water. Decen-tralised wastewater and rainwater management concepts are especially suitable to make a considerable contribution towards that goal. All small-scale wastewater treatment plants offered on the European market need to fulfi l require-ments of the European standard EN 12566-31. In Germany, which represents the biggest market for such systems in the BSR, 1.8 million plants (up to 50 PE2) are installed, despite the fact that 96% of households are connected to public sewer systems and slightly less than 4% of the population treat their wastewater in small-scale sewage facilities. Other BSR countries are below that rate, e.g. Estonia, where 15-20% of the population is not supplied with centralised sewer systems due to dispersed rural settlement. In Sweden, about 1.25 million people (13% of the population) are not connected to municipal wastewater treatment.

1 European standard EN 12566-3: Small wastewater treatment systems for up to 50 PT - Part 3: Packaged and/or site assembled domestic wastewater treatment plants (http://www.cen.eu/cen/Pages/default.aspx)

2 Population Equivalent: unit per capita loading, (PE), in wastewater treatment is the number expressing the ratio of the sum of the pollution load produced during 24 hours by industrial facilities and services to the individual pollution load in household sewage produced by one person in the same time.

5

Water treatment techniquesToday, a considerable number of companies in the BSR pro-vide systems for decentralised water and wastewater treat-ment. For the latter, three major concepts are commercially available for SMEs:■ Sequencing batch reactor (SBR): The system comprises three chambers. Wastewater is

collected in the fi rst chamber, where coarse solids are sedimented. It also serves as a wastewater and sedi-mented sludge storage. A certain volume of wastewater is transferred to a second chamber where it undergoes biological treatment (nitrifi cation and denitrifi cation) by aeration. The cleared water fraction fulfi ls national and EU requirements and allows its runoff back into the environment.

■ Fixed fi lm technology: The difference with the SBR technology is the biofi lm

responsible for the degradation of pollutants. It forms in the biological treatment chamber on a carrier material, comparable to biofi lm-covered stones in a creek. At this stage, pre-cleared wastewater is also treated by aeration for full biological treatment. Subsequently, solids coming

out of the biological treatment are sedimented in the chamber to which the water is transferred and reintro-duced into the primary clarifi cation. Runoff water nearly has bath water quality.

■ Membrane technology (membrane bioreactor): Such systems operate with microfi ltration integrated

in the biological treatment step. Membranes applied typically exhibit pore sizes from 0.1 to 0.01 µm, holding back bacteria and even viruses. Thus, membrane bioreactor systems allow for sterile water conditions and reuse of wastewater as service water.

In principle, the examples given on the following pages function according to the concepts described above. Certain variations of the basic concept constitute their innovative nature. They can be also found in the SPIN Database at www.spin-project.eu by choosing the sector “wastewater”. The SPIN database brings together innovations from the whole BSR covering several sectors. As such, it is a ready-to-use instrument for SMEs wanting to push their innovative products and for enterprises (or in the case of wastewater also small municipalities or remote houses) seeking an innovative solution for their specifi c situation.

6

BUSSE GmbH: Membrane fi ltration (MF) for wastewater treatment

Abstract: Busse GmbH is an independent engineering company from Leipzig (Germany). Its extensive know-how resulted in the development of the membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for local wastewater treatment. It is designed for domestic small size wastewater treatment and avail-able in two sizes suitable for 4 and 8 population equivalents (PE). Due to its modular charac-teristic, also bigger buildings such as offi ce buildings or hotels up to 500 PE can be equipped with the system. It applies a microfi ltration (MF) technique eradicating bacteria and other germs from the wastewater, which after fi ltration can be reused as raw water for e.g. irrigation or toilet fl ushing. By means of this innovative wastewater recycling technology it is also possi-ble to grow fi sh for everyday consumption on any location of the world without the production of wastewater. The fi rst wastewater-free treatment system for aquaculture worldwide was put into operation by Busse GmbH in November 2006 in Thierbach near Leipzig.

Description: The Busse MF Small Size Sewage Treatment System is designed on the basis of DIN 4261 part 2 and comprises two treatment steps, namely pre-treatment (1) and aeration (2). At the pre-treatment step, which also serves as wastewater storage, biologically-degradable coarse material, such as e.g. faeces and toilet paper, is dissolved and the non-dissolving components separated from the wastewater by an aerated sieve. A pump pumps the water, from which the coarse material has been separated, to the aeration section. During this step the organic matter in the wastewater is biologi-cally degraded by microorganisms and oxygen. In addition to this, the wastewater is treated physically by microfi ltration membranes (ultrafi ne fi lter with 0.4 µm pore size). These membrane fi lters eliminate suspended material, even bacte-ria and germs, ensuring that only absolutely clear, odourless, hygienically-harmless water (fi ltrate) leaves the system.

The Busse MF system was tested successfully by the Uni-versity of Hanover and the Technical University in Berlin. Wastewater cleared by the system is signifi cantly better in its quality than required by DIBt (German institute for structural engineering) Berlin (design qualifi cation approval Z-55.3-60) and the applicable law. Due to the immersed microfi ltration membranes, in combination with a techno-logically-required high concentration of biomass, the COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) level in the discharged water can be reduced to less than 30 mg/l and the BOD5 value to less than 5 mg/l. In 2008, the BusseMF system successfully surpassed the certifi cation by the PIA Institute in Aachen according to the EU standard for decentralised wastewa-ter treatment. The BusseMF fulfi lls all degradation classes for water treatment set by European law, such as carbon removal, nitrifi cation, de-nitrifi cation, phosphorous removal

and water hygienisation. Recently, the system was tested successfully by NSF International according to standards 20 and 245 and it is the fi rst system using membrane bioreactor technology that has been certifi ed by the NSF.

SPIN SPIN DECENTRALISED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

7

In addition to the high quality of treated wastewater, a signifi cant advantage of the BUSSE system is its compact, space-saving design which allows installation in cellars. Hence, costly excavation works are not necessary.

Innovative aspects – environmental, economic, social:

Provider:

BUSSE Innovative Systeme GmbH

ContactBUSSE GmbHMs. Anja BusseZaucheweg 604316 Leipzig | GermanyTel.: 0341/65984-0Fax: 0341/[email protected]

The innovative wastewater recycling technique also allows fi sh to be raised for everyday consumption in fi sh farms any-where in the world without wastewater. The technology was pioneered at the fi rst wastewater-free fi sh farm in Germany. It is now possible to raise fi sh without using large amounts of drinking water and without the need for any kind of waste disposal. In addition, the use of MBR technology ensures a high water quality in the fi sh-farming basins and therefore allows much better living conditions compared to a conven-tional system. The use of antibiotics for fi sh health reasons is no longer necessary when fi sh farms use a wastewater recycling system with MBR.

Besides wastewater treatment for households, offi ces or hotels, the technique allows running fi sh farms anywhere even if there is no connection to a river or lake available. System sizes can be adapted to the water volumes the customer needs to treat. It drastically reduces drinking water consumption due to the effi cient purifying process. No wastewater spoils rivers, lakes, the soil or the sea.

8

utp umwelttechnik pöhnl GmbH: kläropro® wastewater treatment

Abstract: Small scale wastewater treatment plants are mostly designed for and offered to households with wastewater volumes of up to 50 PE (population equivalent). utp umwelttechnik pöhnl GmbH, with its product kläropro® also offers plants in the range of 50 to 1500 PE especially suitable for SMEs or small settlements. The system, which functions according to the sequen-cing batch reactor (SBR) principle, can easily be adapted to the individual wastewater volumes due to its modular composition. A special feature provided by utp is the remote supervision (telemetry) which can replace daily checks and monitoring by the operator which are requested by national law in some European countries, e.g. Germany. Cleaning capacity of the fully bio-logical system is comparable to centralised facilities.

Description: An SBR wastewater treatment plant basically comprises two treatment steps. First, wastewater runs into the mechanical primary treatment where coarse solids are sedimented and stored with the secondary sludge from the SBR reactor in the sludge storage. Mechanically pre-treated wastewater is also kept in storage, hydraulic overload is prevented by an ad-ditional security storage. Second, by means of a fi lling device operated by compressed air, the biological stage is charged with pre-treated wastewater within a very short period of time with a defi ned minimum quantity (cycle volume). The nitrifi cation and de-nitrifi cation phases are followed in case of an appropriate load by the settlement phase during which clear water as well as a sludge layer are formed. The clear water layer is drawn off through the outlet by means of a compressed air sewage lifting unit. Surplus-activated sludge is brought back into the primary treatment and is stored there together with the primary sludge.

The functioning of the system is illustrated in a short movie available online: http://www.utp-umwelttechnik-poehnl.de/umwelttechnik/klaerofi x-die-haeusliche-kleinklaeranlage.html.

SBR systems exhibit a high carbon clearing ratio (>90%). The technique applied to the wastewater is free of wear which also holds true for air compressors, resulting in low main-tenance costs. By making use of the offered remote monitor-ing, operators do not have to take care of their wastewater treatment, which will increase acceptance of such decentral-ised systems among entrepreneurs.


Provider:

utp umwelttechnik pöhnl GmbH

ContactMr. Roland PöhnlWeidenberger Str. 2-4D-95517 Seybothenreuth | GermanyTel.: +49 (0) 9275 60566-47Fax: +49 (0) 9275 60566-68poehnlr@utp-umwelttechnik.dewww.utp-umwelttechnik-poehnl.de


9

Bergmann Abwassertechnik GmbH: WSB® clean

Abstract: Bergmann Waste Water Engineering supplies the wastewater treatment solution WSB® clean. WSB® clean is based on the moving bed biofi lm technology. It is designed for wastewater quantities ranging from 1 to 1,000 PE or 1 m3/day up to 200 m3/day. Systems have been in-stalled in the fi eld of municipal wastewater treatment as well as in touristic applications like restaurants, resorts and campgrounds. Every plant can be planned individually according to the local effl uent requirements and customer specifi cations. Its strength is the handling of under-load situations or high loading variations. So far, more than 35,000 units have been installed in 14 countries.

Description: Wastewater is fi rst collected in a septic tank where primary sludge is stored. Hereafter, sinkable materials are held back in the pre-clearing compartment before the biological clear-ing stage is reached. Supported by compressed air aeration, a biofi lm of microorganisms attached to a carrier material made from polyethylene with a large protected surface (500 m2/m3) clears the water. It is then transferred into the fi nal sedimentation tank, where remaining sludges are re-moved via a sludge-collecting gutter and pumped back into the septic tank in a time-controlled manner. Biologically- cleared wastewater reaches runoff via a discharge device.

The difference with standard fi xed fi lm systems is the fl oating carrier material (matrix) which allows its agitation during the aeration step for complete stirring of wastewater and microorganisms. This signifi cantly enhances the water clearing performance in comparison to statical fi lms and, as a result, reduces sludge accumulation. WSB® clean pro is equipped with a control unit for the power supply as well as the automatic control of the compressor and immersion pumps in the fi nal sedimentation. For optimized operation at minimum energy consumption, the aerator works intermit-tently, with changing operation and recess times. Thus, energy consumption is as low as 70 kWh per resident and year. Actual operating parameters can be precisely defi ned taking into account the varying wastewater accruals during the course of the day.


Provider:

Bergmann Abwassertechnik GmbH

ContactBergmann Abwassertechnik GmbHMr. Lars BergmannAm Zeisig 809322 Penig (OT Wernsdorf)GermanyTel.: +49 (0)37381 86 10 Fax: +49 (0)37381 8 61 [email protected]

10

SPIN

Batch-operated wastewater treatment fi lter system Abstract: The technology has been developed in Estonia by the University of Tartu, Institute of Technol-ogy. Batch-operated wastewater treatment fi lter system can be used in different wastewater treatment plants for domestic and industrial wastewater. Effl uent results meet the require-ments of Estonian and EU standards and legislation for discharge to water bodies. The research group is looking for a partner for system design and sales, investment in technology and indus-trialisation of the technology.

Description: The system consists of a septic tank, infl ow/distribution well, fi lter cells and an outfl ow/recirculation well. The cells are fi lled with soil media. In batch-operated constructed wetlands (CW), the fi lter is rapidly fi lled to capacity, remains fi lled for a long enough period of time and in a repeating process, is drained and refi lled. The advantage of batch operation continuous fl ow operation in wetland systems is supported by the fact that even at very low drain-fi ll fre-quencies, the batch operation of subsurface fl ow (SSF) CWs ensures that the microbial population at any given point will be exposed to decreasing organic carbon concentration. This allows variation between aerobic and anoxic conditions in the wetland environment and therefore enhances organic matter and nitrogen removal. Studies have shown that the quantity of additional oxygen introduced to the fi lter matrix during the drain process increases as the drain-fi ll frequency increases.

While operating in batch mode, it is possible to re-circulate the treated water. The batch cycle consists of fi lling time, incubation time (variable), draining time and recuperation time. The usage of timer-controlled pumps narrows the distinctions between natural treatment systems and conven-tional systems. Re-circulation is also used in the activated sludge processes, for instance to remove nitrogen. The tech-nology has been tested in real conditions.

Environmental Aspects: Wastewater treatment plant effl uent results meet the requirements of Estonian and EU standards and legislations (for example BOD, COD, TSS, Ntot and Ptot) for discharge to water bodies. Those systems suit well to the landscape and they help to increase the biodiversity. Social Aspects: Batch-operated systems are easy to maintain (safe).


Economic Aspects: The construction costs of systems fi lled with LWA (light weight aggregates) would, in Estonia, range from 1279 to 1051 Euro/PE (for 50 to 100 PE), compared to AWP with equivalent loading rates and treatment perform-ance, consisting of concrete basins for nitrifi cation, second-ary sedimentation and sludge thickening, with construction costs of 1432 to 1112 Euro/PE. If we also consider operating costs, such as electrical power, chemical, labour, sludge treatment costs and depreciable cost, which total 84 to 72 Euro/year for batch-operated fi lter systems and 129 to 96 Euro/year for AWPs, the batch-operated fi lter system could be an economically sound alternative to wastewater treatment in small communities (up to 200 inhabitants). This conclusion is based on a lifetime assessment of different treatment systems. In the evaluation of depreciable cost, the lifetime of facilities is considered to be 40 years, although in the case of batch-operated systems a lifetime of 20 years is assumed for the fi lter material.

Provider:

University of Tartu, Institute of Technology

ContactNooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, EstoniaTel.: + 372 737 4800, + 372 737 [email protected], http://www.tuit.ut.eeErik Puura, DirectorTel.: + 372 737 4802, + 372 506 [email protected]

SPIN DECENTRALISED WASTEWATER TREATMENT

11

Alnarp Cleanwater Technology: ACT NaturalAbstract: Alnarp Cleanwater Technology, a small Swedish company, has developed a wastewater treat-ment system based on nature’s own way of treating wastewater - The ACT Natural system. This means, among other things, that the system does not require any chemical additives, instead it uses natural microorganisms and plants. Conventional sewage systems work with so-called septic tanks which means that these systems require regular sludge withdrawal. ACT Natural has no septic tanks, but instead works with a sludge digestion process, i.e. the sludge is degra-ded into a form that can be disposed of by microorganisms and plants in the system.

Description: The ACT Natural system is designed to treat domestic waste-water in two main steps. No chemicals have to be added to the process and no sludge withdrawal is necessary, as the sludge is digested in the system.

The fi rst main step, ProACT, is a tank consisting of two cham-bers in which organic matter is treated in two sub-processes. The wastewater is led into the fi rst chamber, in which the water is treated through an anaerobic process that can be compared to a natural digestion process. In this fi rst step, or-ganic matter is degraded and nutrients are released. As more wastewater is added to the fi rst chamber, water already in the system with a high amount of sludge will be transferred to the second chamber where it is exposed to a bio bed.

Here, drain fi eld microorganisms degrade the remaining organic sludge to a level which can safely be passed on to the next step in the process. The water passes yet another bio bed in the ProACT system before it is pumped to the second main treatment step of the ACT Natural system, the InterACT. Here the wastewater is exposed to a third type of microorganisms as well as to a set of aquatic plants that feed on nutrients in the water.

Act Natural is designed to mimic nature’s own way of purifying sewage water. The system does not require any chemical additives. There is no need for sludge withdrawal as the sludge is degraded by microorganisms and digested by plants in the system. Implementation of an Act Natural plant lowers the nutrient load to the surrounding environment and thereby reduces eutrophication of the Baltic Sea.


Provider:

Alnarp Cleanwater Technology

ContactVisiting address:Pomonavägen 4, Alnarp (SLU area)Mailing address:PO Box 206SE-230 53 Alnarp, Sweden Tel.: +46 40 [email protected]

12

BAGA Water Technology: BAGA EasyAbstract: BAGA Water Technology, founded in 1992 and based in Karlskrona, Sweden, specialises in equipment and solutions for water and sewage water treatment. BAGA Easy is a series of uncomplicated and effi cient plants for domestic wastewater treatment. BAGA Easy offers a number of advantages: simplicity, reliability, low investment costs and considerably lower power consumption. The plants come in standard sizes from 1 - 6 households. These systems meet the highest standards “high level” NFS2006:7 set by Naturvårdsverket (Swedish Environ-mental Protection Agency).

Description: The high levels of purifi cation are achieved using a patented method of proportionally adding fl occulants to the water fl ow, directly into the septic tank. The system is completed with a drain fi eld or reinforced infi ltration. The septic tank is also equipped with a fi lter to prevent fl occulants from enter-ing the drain fi eld.

BAGA Easy is ideal for both permanent and recreational living as it can be shut down for long periods and automatic-ally starts up to full effect, without delay in the purifi cation process, as soon as water enters the system.In order to make it as easy as possible to maintain the plant, a support agreement providing a Programmable Logic Con-trol (PLC) system is offered. The control system supervises the plant day and night using text messages to inform about the status and possible measures.Water is pumped from the septic tank out to the bio bed. Simultaneously, fl occulants are added into the septic tank. The fl occulant reacts with nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) and easily degradable substances measured as BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and precipitates to the bottom of the septic tank. The conditions for an effi cient fl occulation are that the fl occulant is added proportionally to the inlet and an effi cient mixing of the liquids.BAGA Easy contains a fi lter through which all wastewater must pass before reaching the drain fi eld. The fi lter guaran-tees that the outlet is completely free from sludge or par-ticles. The fi lter is an important part of the process as sludge or particles will affect the biological process. The integrated pump of the septic tank feeds the water through a sprinkler tube, evenly distributing it into the drainfi eld. Thus, the drainfi eld does not necessarily have to be downstream of the tank. It also gives the opportunity of placing the drainfi eld at some distance from the tank.

The simplicity of the construction and design of BAGA Easy reduces the power consumption to a few kWh per month. Normally, conventional water treatment plants utilise components such as pumps and fans, constantly consuming electrical power. BAGA Easy only uses one pump, consuming power only when the plant is in use.


The uncomplicated design of BAGA Easy, containing only one pump, results in a high grade of reliability. Upon signing a support agreement, the plant becomes equipped with a remote PLC control system, further enhancing the reliability as the plant is constantly monitored.Every wastewater plant uses oxygen in the biological purifi cation process. Many conventional plants use energy- consuming fans constantly running. BAGA Easy needs no fan, as oxygen is supplied through the bio modules, making it completely silent and reducing power consumption to a minimum.

Provider:

BAGA Water Technology

ContactReimer RexmyrFiskhamnen 3371 37 Karlskrona | SwedenTel.: +46 (0)455 616 150 [email protected]


13

AquaTeq Sweden AB: EcoVee®Abstract: AquaTeq is a medium-sized Swedish company that has developed a patented system, EcoVee®, which dewaters sludge directly in septic tanks. Water and microorganisms are returned to the tank. At the same time the water is oxygenised, improving the natural purifying process. The transported volume is reduced by 95%. The sludge has a dryness of approx. 25-30% and is ready to be composted or used for energy production.

Description: A combination of a septic tank (with one or more compart-ments) and a drainage system is the most common treat-ment method for individual septic systems. In brief, it works like this: The liquid from the septic system fi lters into the ground whilst the sludge stays in the septic tank. Micro-organisms in the ground and tank purify the water. Sub-sequent composting turns the sludge into an effective soil improvement material.

Ordinary sludge suction empties the tank. The microorgan-isms disappear at the same time and it takes a long time before the biological process starts again. The discharge increases, as does the amount of suspended substances which can obstruct the infi ltration process, with impaired functioning as a result.

AquaTeqs patented system, EcoVee®, dewaters the sludge directly in the septic tank. Water and microorganisms are returned to the tank. At the same time the water is oxygen-ised, improving the natural purifying process. The transport-ed volume is reduced by 95%. The sludge has a dryness of approx. 25-30%, ready to be composted or used for energy production.

EcoVee® is a mechanical separation system using no chemicals. Transportation to sewage treatment plants is no longer necessary. The EcoVee® system promotes long service lifetimes of the septic tank and the infi ltration system by us-ing nature’s own treatment plant. Also, the operators benefi t from a safe yet challenging working environment. Reduced transportation needs lower the costs and the greenhouse effects.

The main advantage of this system compared to other similar systems is that the sludge is withdrawn from the septic tank but the water and microorganisms are returned. Thus, the natural cleaning capacity is maintained in the septic tank and unwanted transportation of water is avoided.


Provider:

AquaTeq Sweden AB

ContactKalmar Tech Park, 393 56 KALMAR | SwedenTel.: +46 (0)480 270 10 Fax: +46 (0)480 125 80 [email protected]

14

■ Designed both for single household and small settlements■ Small construction footprint■ High effi ciency■ Sludge and odour-free process■ Very low operational costs■ Secure and maintenance-free operation■ No chemicals required

Provider:

ENKO SA

Contactul. Dojazdowa 1044-101 GliwicePolandTel.: +48 32 232 18 36 Fax: +48 32 232 30 72 fi [email protected]

Fig. 2 Working ENCOSYSTEM

SPIN

ENKOSYSTEM: New concept of decentralised waste-water treatment

Abstract: ENKOSYSTEM is an integrated biological system for decentralised treatment of residential sewage and polluted waters. It generates highly oxygenated and BOD-free water which may be used as grey water for e.g. watering the garden. ENKOSYSTEM is designed and constructed to serve single households. However, it is scalable and can also serve a larger number of house-holds and high-rise buildings in an urban environment through proper scale-up and process controls. For bigger sewage fl ows, several systems can be combined into a cluster.

Description: The system features a microbiological wastewater clearing process combined with the root system of selected aquatic and bog plants in a botanic bed. It requires a very small construction footprint and consumes little energy compared to conventional wastewater systems. ENKO-SYSTEM can easily be incorporated into new garden designs. Furthermore, it can be applied to pool water cleaning without the use of chemicals.


Fig. 1 Idea of ENKOSYSTEM


15

Biomimetic Water Purifi cation / Extraction

Abstract: The new emerging Aquaporin Inside™ technology offers enormous commercial potential in several water market segments through its capability to separate and purify water from all other compounds by exploiting – or mimicking – nature’s tremendous capability for selective water transport across membranes. Biomimetic membranes will soon be ready to hit the market and this proprietary and superior technology is now ready for introduction to leading system providers.

Description: Aquaporin A/S is an industrial biotech/cleantech company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Aquaporin has developed a novel biomimetic water membrane based on natures’ own water fi lter, aquaporin water channels. The Aquaporin Inside™ technology is capable of purifying water to a unique level of purity, while concurrently reducing energy costs. In laboratory tests the Aquaporin Inside™ technology has demonstrated the potential to be vastly superior both in terms of effi ciency and effectiveness compared to any other known water purifying technology. While the technology is still in development phase, Aquaporin is extracting water with extremely high initial salt rejection rates of 99.9% and initial water fl uxes of ~10 kg/m2.

The Aquaporin Inside™ technology is developed in two paral-lel tracks. Firstly a traditional Reverse Osmosis (RO) mem-brane track to be used in industrial production where the selective layer consists of natural aquaporin water channels. Secondly, a novel Forward Osmosis (FO) membrane track, which is different in design, compared to the Reverse Osmo-sis membrane track. The design for Forward Osmosis secures simple production and good up-scaling possibilities for the desalination market and its vast demand for membranes.

■ A membrane design very suitable for industrial up-scaling■ Initial salt rejection rates of 99.9%■ Initial water fl ux exceeding 10 kg/m2

■ Osmotic gradients of 30 bar in draw solutions

Aquaporin facilitates new revenue streams from tomorrow’s technology for water fi ltration.

Strong IPR innovation within several patent family fi elds offers unique value propositions for customers.Aquaporin Inside™ is a superior technology both in terms of effi ciency and effectiveness compared to any other known water purifying technology.

Aquaporin possesses in-depth knowledge of biomimetic membranes based on many years of research as well as a genuine entrepreneurial spirit with the indispensable goal of revolutionising the water world.


Provider:

Aquaporin A/S

ContactCTO Oliver GeschkeOle Maaløes vej 32200 Copenhagen NDenmarkPhone +45 82303082 [email protected]

16

SPIN

Supervision and control systems for harvesting of environmental resources through wireless internet technology, WEB and smartphones

Abstract: The Danish electronic development and manufacturing company Crysberg A/S is currently de-veloping a supervision and control system for water harvesting tanks. The idea originates from the irrigation business, where Crysberg has a long history and many products, among them Internet, WEB and smart phone based irrigation systems. The water harvesting supervision is an add-on to irrigation but also an area for new business. Further, the technology can evolve to other areas like Environmental Resource Management in general. Crysberg is looking for partners interested in distribution and development of new markets for the current and future technology.

Description: The system aims at controlling level and usage of resources such as water from man-made storages (reservoirs, tanks) and thereby maximizing resource effi ciency.

The system consists of an embedded sensor and control unit, communication module(s), server, WEB/Java application and a smart phone application.

The embedded sensor and control unit is in principle a box with an interface for level sensors, pressure sensors and alarm contacts, pump activation, etc. for supervision of water harvesting tanks and pumps. The unit contains logic doing alarm reaction, sending e-mails and monitoring vari-ous parameters. The unit is currently under development for water harvesting and pumps control, but will be useable for other purposes like general Environmental Resource Management.

The communication modules are used for communication between the server and the embedded sensor and control unit. Modules using technologies such as GPRS, Ethernet (LAN) and radio link are already developed and in production. A module utilising satellite communication for rural areas is on the development plan.

The server solution is already developed and has been in use for years. In the development of the embedded sensor and control unit, the server will utilise and be adapted to the proven technology. The WEB/Java application and smart phone application will be developed as an add-on to the existing applications for the irrigation systems.

Crysberg has 25 years of experience in development and manufacture of sustainable industrial solutions, especially in the irrigation fi eld.

■ Gives the customer supervision and control anywhere and anytime

■ Saves water resources through intelligent harvesting■ Utilises several communication methods for optimisation

of cost and installation■ Monitors waste due to tank or distribution defects■ Optimises/minimises usage of potable water■ Pump supervision and fault monitoring■ Integration with weather service providers for forecasting

of rainfall■ Water harvesting reduces the use of potable water for

irrigation, etc. to ensure scarce water resources are saved for human purposes

■ Supervision anywhere through the internet saves energy in transport of service staff

■ Solar-powered to reduce CO2


Provider:

Crysberg

ContactSøren Haxvig Manager R&D and Quality & Environment | DenmarkEmail: [email protected] Cell: +45 61 62 92 09 www.crysberg.dk


18

The aim of SPIN is spelt out in the full title of the project: SPIN aims at enhancing “Sustainable Production through Innovation in SMEs”.

SPIN is based on the simple but normally successful business equation of matching supply and demand. SPIN taps on innovations throughout the Baltic Sea Region (BSR), which lead to sustainable production in SMEs. It supports SMEs who have developed sustainable solutions to reach out to a larger market. At the same time it gives enterprises the technical and managerial solutions they need to make their production process more sustainable and to increase their profi ts.

In doing so the project is creating a win-win-win situation: The supplier increases his profi t by selling more products / services, the applier increases his profi t by reducing produc-tion costs (e.g. through improved resource effi ciency) and / or by increasing his sales (through innovative production techniques fulfi lling higher environmental or social stand-ards). In any case society benefi ts through reduced environ-mental costs or improved working conditions. The slogan of SPIN is therefore: Private Profi ts – Public Benefi ts.

SPIN has created a number of instruments to fuel this matchmaking throughout the BSR: Innovation highlights like the ones presented in this brochure are collected in the SPIN Database. This is a ready-to-use instrument for SMEs wanting to push their innovative products and for enterprises seeking an innovative solution for their specifi c

situation. All SMEs from the BSR can register and post their entries directly online. The SPIN partners perform a quality check and if the data set is meeting the criteria of sustain-able production the entry is made accessible to all users. Users only searching the database for innovations can use it without registering.

Other instruments are the SPIN Toolbox and the SPIN Indus-try Workshops. The SPIN tools can be applied rather broadly in all kinds of SMEs and are not as specifi c as the innova-tion highlights. “Umberto“ is such a tool that is promoted by SPIN. It is a powerful software tool to model, calculate and visualize material and energy fl ow systems in SMEs with cost intensive production that wish to optimize their processes and improve their competitiveness. Results can be assessed using economic and environmental performance indicators.

The SPIN Industry Workshops bring together experts, enter-prises and researchers from different countries of the BSR. The host of the workshop is setting up the agenda of the workshop based on a background analysis on the needs of the SMEs in the specifi c industry sector of his country.

Our understanding of innovation is based on the defi nition of the former Finnish Prime Minister Esko Aho who stated: Quite often, when people talk about innovation they mean research and development. But innovation is broader than that: research is trans-forming money into knowledge, while innovation is transforming know-ledge into money and well-being.

The SPIN Project

19

It’s all about creating a market for innovations – provided that they enhance sustainable production:

While the effective matchmaking between supply and demand involving SMEs from the whole BSR is one pillar of the SPIN project the other important pillar of SPIN is the improvement of the political, macro-economic framework conditions. Based on the results of country specifi c studies and a synthesis report for the whole BSR, SPIN partners have developed the SPIN Strategic Actions. The SPIN Strategic Actions translate the fi ndings on SME needs, existing barriers to innovations for sustainable production and experience on best-practice incentives into a transnational action plan. It addresses policy makers on national, transnational and Euro-pean level as well as authorities, fi nancing institutions and associations. The aim is to reduce barriers and create new transnational incentives to effectively support an uptake of innovations for sustainable production in SMEs of the BSR.

SPIN runs for 3 years (until January 2012) and is supported by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 of the European Union. SPIN is lead by the Federal Environment Agency from Germany and brings together some of the most important institutions for eco-innovations in the BSR.

Many national governments, sector associations, research bodies and transnational NGOs support the project. The im-portance of SPIN is further highlighted by the fact that the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region as well as the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) awarded SPIN the title as Strategic and Lighthouse Project, respectively.The website www.spin-project.eu has developed into a frequently used information platform for entrepreneurs and policy makers in the BSR but also into a market place for in-novations and tools supporting sustainable production.For more information please visit the website, which provides you also with all contact details for each country.

www.spin-project.eu

PROJECT PARTNERS

Germany Federal Environment Agency (UBA) - the Lead Partner Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)

Sweden Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL)

Poland Polish Environmental Partnership Foundation (EPCE) Central Mining Institute (GIG)

Denmark Danish Technological Institute (DTI)

Lithuania Kaunas University of Technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI)

Estonia University of Tartu

Finland Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)

decentralised wastewater treatment -...

Documents