Wastewater treatment project gains funding
The INNOQUA consortium, a project aimed at developing modular wastewater treatment systems for rural communities, has been awarded €7m under Horizon 2020 funding.
UK participants Scottish Water and environmental consultants Aqua Enviro will work together on the project to improve water sanitation using innovative and sustainable methods, whilst also tackling the issue of water scarcity in rural areas.
Overall, 20 partners are involved in the four-year research project, which is being co-ordinated by French research and technology organisation Nobatek.
The project aims to provide an innovative, modular and sustainable wastewater treatment technology with near-zero CO2 lifecycle emissions for use in rural areas.
The technology includes novel biological treatment and disinfection modules and is designed to provide safe and affordable sanitation with the flexibility for global application.
Roi Otero, innovation programme manager for Scottish Water, said: “Scottish Water has a high proportion of rural works and developing a sustainable approach to water use, treatment and sludge recycling is a challenge. This exciting project will play a key role for us in the development of innovative new solutions to make our rural communities more sustainable.”
In total, 11 demonstration sites will be used during the project in locations across the world, and each one will run for a year in order to simulate all climatic conditions.
Paul Lavender, business development manager at Aqua Enviro, added: “It’s great that the EU has recognised the consortium’s really innovative technologies and the impact these could have on meeting the challenges of decentralised wastewater treatment.”
