Waste water treatment and production of potable water

Water treatment is a central topic of environmental protection in municipal as well in industrial sector. A problem of rising importance is the threat of water bodies due to an increasing number of micro-pollutants like pharmaceutical residues from households or certain chemicals from industrial production including nanosized particles. It is because conventional waste water treatment processes are not sufficient to solve this problem, it needs new technologies and risk management concepts to cope with these threats. Also known challenges like safe, effective and resource-related handling of bio solids (sewage sludge) remain on the agenda. Against this background and in light of climatic changes coming up water will become of much more importance in the future - as a resource for industrial processes as well as a basis for human life.

 

R&D-Topics

 

• Integrated, sustainable (nutrients, energy) sewage sludge treatment concepts and optimisations (disintegration, nutrients recovery, mixed liquor, flocculation, dewater-ing) 
  
• P/N recycling from process water with the help of ceramic nanofiltration membranes 
  
• Depletion and elimination of pharmaceutical residues by wet chemical catalysis in a membrane contactor 
  
• Treatment of secondary effluents (disinfection, elimination of mico-pollutants) 
  
• Process integrated use of ceramic membranes for the partial flow treatment and implementation of closed water cycles 
  
• Preparation of potable water by using surface optimized ceramic nanofiltration membranes 
  
• Mobile purification of potable water in crisis areas, developing countries and local applications (e.g. on ships) by using ceramic nanofiltration membranes