ABOUT US

Growing water scarcity, catalyzed by the imminent threat of climate change, requires the development of sustainable and innovative technologies to shift the paradigm of water management towards low-impact recycling without incurring major resource or energy footprints. As such, the future of sustainable agriculture is dependent on a near closed loop of treated wastewater reuse. Although the challenges of reuse implementation vary across the Mediterranean region, energy and resource efficiency during treatment are universal requirements due to the potential for greenhouse gas emissions and costs associated with energy input. This project involves the development, advancement, and application of the emerging technology known as the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for unrestricted wastewater reuse. To achieve this, the primary objective of the work is to address and overcome the outstanding issues facing AnMBR technology from a practical implementation perspective. In addition to achieving safe water reuse for irrigation, the outcomes of this research will also serve to improve surface water quality by mitigating poorly treated waste sources and reducing contaminant loading.

Period of Implementation
Sep 1, 2020 - Aug 31, 2024
Total Budget
EUR 385,000.00

Project team

Partners

Donors

OUR IMPACT

Goals

The goals of this project include the development of a sustainable emerging technology to: 1) Improve surface water quality in various regions of the Mediterranean by reducing point source discharges. 2) Address the proliferation of emerging contaminants during wastewater discharge and reuse practices. 3) Allow for both water and resource (energy) recovery as part of the direct reuse of treated wastewaters and anaerobic biogas harvesting. 4) Reduce reliance on groundwater resources for irrigation practices and subsequent seawater intrusion potential. 5) Reverse the effects of soil salinization by sustainably reducing reliance on highly saline irrigation water sources. 6) Significantly reduce reliance on inorganic fertilizer sources through nutrient preservation during wastewater treatment for agricultural reuse.

Objectives

The technologies necessary for widespread unrestricted irrigation reuse across the Mediterranean are not at a level ready for municipal or market application. Based on this, the project team will focus on development, advancement, and application of the emerging technology known as the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for unrestricted wastewater reuse. Integrated testing of AnMBR technology for treatment of wastewaters in multiple participating countries will be performed, with a specific focus on mitigation of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). In order to broaden the potential reuse application scenarios, low-impact membrane-based tertiary treatment will also be investigated and applied for these systems. Scale-up of AnMBR technology will be addressed using a pilot-scale system, specifically focusing on practical operational strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy recovery efficiency. Specific objectives of pilot-scale assessments will include increasing influent waste stream diversification and effluent methane valorization strategies. Operational practicality will be assessed by incorporating life cycle assessment analyses using collected data. Based on the experiments conducted, we will implement a plan for advancing AnMBR technology to a point where technology transfer to local/national stakeholders and responsible governance agencies can occur.

Problems and Needs Analysis

Climate variability, including severe drought, combined with projected population growth is putting increasing pressure on Mediterranean agricultural water supplies. In many regions, the depletion of groundwater resources has led to increases in groundwater salinity. This increased salinity in widely utilized irrigation waters is having negative consequences on crop production, as well as long-term soil salinization effects. This issue, combined with greenhouse gas emission concerns, requires the development of sustainable and innovative technologies to shift the paradigm of water management towards direct and low-impact recycling without incurring major resource or energy footprints. These problems are further compounded in several Eastern Mediterranean countries (such as Lebanon) by a near complete lack of wastewater treatment infrastructure, which is leading to deterioration of river water quality through both elevated organic and complex contaminant loading. These stressors are a severe hindrance to the possibility of adopting non-traditional water sources such as reclaimed water (treated wastewater) to ensure a stable and long-term supply of water for food production. Although untreated wastewater reuse has long been practiced in many Mediterranean communities, the emerging microbial and chemical risks associated with such practices remain outstanding, especially with increasing population densities in rural farming areas. Other less obvious universal issues include the fate of emerging contaminants in wastewater reuse systems, which include organic micropollutants and microbial contaminants. In many instances, the poorly restricted use and release of pharmaceuticals (including antibiotics), pesticides, and endocrine disrupting chemicals causes a significantly higher occurrence of such chemicals in wastewaters and the environment. This occurrence subsequently also leads to higher rates of antimicrobial resistance, which is causing increased public health risks.

Intervention Strategy(ies)

Strategies to address the problems facing water reuse in the Mediterranean region using anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) technology include: 1) Testing the application of lab-scale AnMBR systems for the treatment of local wastewater sources from participating countries. 2) Advancing AnMBR technology by addressing its outstanding sustainability issues while ensuring effluent water quality is suitable for irrigation reuse. 3) Reducing the impact of persistent organic contamination on surface water and soils irrigated with reuse water by systematically evaluating AnMBRs for removal of emerging contaminants. 4) Evaluating microbial safety of unrestricted AnMBR effluent reuse by addressing microbial contaminants and their associated risks. 5) Developing low-impact tertiary treatment methods for AnMBR effluent to expand the potential wastewater reuse envelope.

Impact Pathway

The project is anticipated to enhance local capacities across the Mediterranean to support employability and economic development in the field of wastewater reuse and resource recovery. Specific impacts will result in an overall improvement of surface water quality in various regions of the Mediterranean by reducing point source discharges while also increasing water and energy availability as part of the direct reuse of treated wastewaters and anaerobic biogas harvesting. These impacts will further serve to reduce reliance on groundwater resources for irrigation practices, decrease the effects of soil salinization, and mitigate the necessity for inorganic fertilizer use. These results will ultimately serve the management of low-quality waters under increasing water scarcity and climate change conditions.

WHERE WE WORK