Pollutant Photo-NF remediation of Agro-Water (LIFE PureAgroH2O)

The key objective of the LIFE PureAgroH2O project is to develop and demonstrate a novel purification system for the sustainable management of the end-of-the-pipe wastewater effluents generated in fruit-industry, the prevention of losses of various inorganic and organic contaminants to the environment and the recycle/reuse of the purified water. To achieve the objective, a close-to market, patented water purification system with the ability to effectively recycle 15 m3/day of

real agro-wastewater will be developed and commercialized. The novel Photo-NF reactor (PNFR) system integrates synergistically state-of-the-art technologies such as nanofiltration (NF) with photocatalysis, resulting in applicability extension, minimization of the operational cost and limitation of the carbon and environmental footprint. Innovative single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNTs) photocatalytic membranes and vis-light active TiO2 nanostructures (VLA-TiO2) integrated in PNFR are expected to bring: i) 60% reduction in the transmembrane pressure (energy efficiency), ii) significant extension of the process lifetime (2-fold) and iii) enhanced rejection performance (+99.5%) and 95% waste reduction.

Objectives:

• The PureAgroH2O project is expected to deliver a novel solution on two key issues: the purification of agro-industrial effluents by means of detoxification of contaminants/reduction of the total organic load and the cost-effective reclaim of the treated water.