Water and waste water technology

Water is indispensable as a foodstuff as well as for agricultural and industrial production. It is therefore paramount to use this important resource with care. In this context, more and more production companies all over the world are faced with the challenge of achieving so-called »zero liquid discharge« by introducing closed production cycles.

As a consequence, the processing industry is in need of safe and fully multifunctional components for water treatment. These components must be light-weight and versatile and allow integration into the companies' existing supply infrastructures (retrofit systems), as well as into modern manufacturing concepts (industry 4.0). Furthermore, not only should they do without chemicals as operating materials; they should also be able to recover valuable constituents, concentrate any contaminants occurring in the process and break them down without residues.

While industrial processes are characterized by high salt loads and persistent organic residual materials from production and cleaning processes, which stands in the way of any effective closed-loop circulation, urban waste water treatment is more concerned with microbiological pollutants from pharmaceuticals, technical microplastics and nutrients, all in low concentration. Fraunhofer IKTS develops a number of technological solutions for these various issues in the field of water and waste water treatment – from the material, part and component levels up to complete processes and plants. Some of these solutions are presented in this brochure.