A team of international scientists, led by water engineering experts from the University of Exeter, has pioneered an innovative new method to incorporate ecological processes to allow ‘green’ water treatment facilities.
The ground-breaking technique centers around creating a distinctive water system that uses both artificial and natural systems, incorporated within the treatment pipeline, to transform potentially harmful elements such as carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen from wastewater into renewable energy and materials.
The researchers believe that the new REPURE design would allow wastewater to be treated without the need for any energy at all, and significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the systems, as well as provide attractive feedstocks for productions of renewable energy, fertilizers, biopolymers and other green chemicals.
With the pressure on wastewater facilities increasing due to the increase in populations in cities, more sustainable methods for water treatment are needed.
Date: August 1, 2018
Image: Google Images
Coordinator: EnvGuide Team – Yue Cao, Hengwei Fu, Nanzhu Li
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-08-nature-key-nurturing-green-treatment.html