The project will study Permeable Reactive Barriers as an Innovative Solution to Improve the Quality and Reuse of Water Leaving Wastewater Treatment Plants.
Developed with the aim of improving the quality of water near the discharge points of effluents from wastewater and leachate treatment plants, the INOVÁGUA pilot project will begin next September at the Urjais, Mirandela and Bragança wastewater treatment plants.
The project is being promoted by a consortium made up of the Centro Tecnológico de Gestão Ambiental (Aquapor Group company), the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Águas do Norte, S.A. and Resíduos do Nordeste, EIM, SA.
For 36 months, this partnership will monitor water quality and install permeable reactive barriers, on a pilot scale, as a demonstration of the innovative low-cost solution for the treatment and reuse of effluent in agricultural irrigation. The implementation of the project’s activities will thus make it possible to assess the benefits of this solution from a technical and economic point of view, with a view to its full-scale applicability in different scenarios.
Hugo China, CEO of CTGA explains: “The innovative nature of the INOVÁGUA project lies in the use of permeable reactive barriers produced with low-cost materials obtained from waste sources, such as biochars, activated carbons and geopolymers, for the removal of emerging micropollutants, namely endocrine disruptors, perfluorinated compounds, surfactants, gasoline additives, etc., in cases where the tertiary methodologies of WWTPs are inefficient. In this way, this project will contribute to water efficiency through the possibility of reusing the effluents thus treated in irrigation for agriculture, actively contributing to improving the quality of the water bodies leaving the WWTP, with obvious benefits for the sustainability of water resources.”
The INOVÁGUA project is currently in the contractualization phase for the funding granted by the La Caixa Foundation, with support from the Foundation for Science and Technology, in the competition for pilot-innovative projects under the PROMOVE 2024 program: the future of the interior.
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