CEBEDEAU • Water-circularity and SME project

Water-Circularity & SME Project

(ERDF project, part of the SWaM@Sc project portfolio supported by ULg and CEBEDEAU)

The project concerns small-scale wastewater treatment, typically the domain of SMEs and small agglomerations (appropriate treatment). It involves adapting treatment technologies to maximize production and recovery of by-products (purified water and materials).

The budget allocated by the ERDF to the Eau-Circularité&PME project is €993,490.

Project objectives

The long-term objectives are to recover effluents (re-use of treated water, energy from wastewater, materials, etc.), to make water treatment more financially accessible to SMEs, to ensure that treatment plants operate correctly (design, monitoring, pooling of experience), to federate treatment players (builders, operators, recovery companies, etc.) and to propose legislative changes where necessary.

In order to meet its objectives, the project will focus on several areas:

• Characterization of wastewater recovery potential (WP1)
• Type of treatment technology to deliver recoverable by-products (WP2);
• Development and simplification of technologies to reduce CAPEX and OPEX (WP3);
• Management of the wastewater treatment system via on-line measurements (probes), data pooling and processing (WP4);
• Organization of by-product recovery (WP5);
• Legislative barriers (WP6).

The technology adaptation part of WP3 includes small-scale biomethanization (liquid effluent), separation/upgrading of effluent particulates and the development of nature-based solutions. Pilot units have been built for this purpose and placed in companies.

Duration

The project was initiated in autumn 2023 and will run until the end of 2026.