A pilot plant to assess the best combination of technologies for micropollutant removal from wastewater is due to start operating at Cranfield University.
The plant – a first for the UK – comes as UK water companies seek to invest in micropollutant removal from wastewater before it is discharged into the environment.
Built and operated by water treatment specialists Curio Water, the plant will analyse samples of wastewater from the Cranfield campus.
Curio will also work closely with UK water sector partners to validate the technology in real-world applications, while up2e! will provide equipment, training, and marketing support.
Technologies – including ozone, Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP), granular activated carbon (GAC), ultraviolet (UV), and nanobubbles – will be used in various combinations to remove substances like common pharmaceuticals and antibiotics, cleaning detergents, PFAS, microplastics, steroid hormones and pesticides.
It will be the first time that all these technologies are used in combination with each another to identify the most effective approach to micropollutant removal.
Howard Marles, managing director of Curio Group, said: “Using the pilot plant will allow us to demonstrate how a full scale micropollutant removal plant using the latest innovations would operate.”
Curio plans to build a further ten pilot plants for water companies and effluent producers in the next year to analyse wastewater from sites across the UK, using remote monitoring to determine requirements for future plants.
Professor Peter Jarvis, Head of the Cranfield Water Science Institute, added: “This link-up will be mutually beneficial, providing Curio with access to our expertise and fantastic research facilities on water and wastewater treatment.
“For Cranfield, close collaboration with industry is of real importance to ensure that we continue to translate our research into effective solutions that make a real difference, particularly in matters related to the environment and the quality of our waterways.”
Curio Water has also announced a strategic partnership with SKion Water, of Germany, and up2e! to introduce its ozonation technology to UK and Ireland.
The Roturi system – an innovative inline gas transfer solution – is designed to efficiently dissolve gases like ozone directly into liquid streams. Unlike traditional gas-mass-transfer technologies that rely on high pressure velocity differences, or large reaction basins, the process uses its compact design to create a large reaction surface and achieve finely dispersed gas dissolution within the main pipeline.
This collaboration will see Curio become the sole trading partner for this technology in the UK and Ireland.
Howard Marles, Chief Executive of Curio Water, said: “Many gas-mass transfer technologies have a high energy demand, big gas losses and require large reaction basins. This compact and highly innovative system offers an efficient, scalable, and cost-effective ozonisation process combined with a very small footprint.
“We hope that in bringing this technology to the UK market, we can help companies planning to meet tighter environmental standards around micropollutant removal while lowering long term costs and improving operational efficiency.”
