26/10/2023
ICRA-CERCA presents a prototype that will allow the reuse of gray water from laundry, within the framework of the European LIFE RECYCLO project
- The graywater treatment prototype of the LIFE RECYCLO project will save between 50 and 80% of water.
- The new technological solution is based on advanced oxidation that improves water quality and eliminates 90% of emerging contaminants released from clothes during washing.
- The patented system, after being successfully tested by the company TREEWATER, has been implemented in the facilities of the Ramon Noguera Foundation Group in Spain.
The Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA-CERCA) has presented this Thursday 26th October 2023 the new treatment prototype of the European project RECYCLing waste water from a small and medium sized laundries with advanced Oxidation process (LIFE RECYCLO). The main objective of this project, in which the ICRA-CERCA research team has been working since 2021, is the reuse of laundry water in the system itself, by means of an integrated water treatment that allows its recirculation, with the consequent saving in water consumption.
In this sense, the new technological solution presented is based on an advanced oxidation that improves water quality and can degrade more than 90% of the emerging pollutants present in the water.
During the event, not only details of the project were presented, as well as the first results of the implementation of the prototype, but the attendees also had the opportunity to visit the laundry of the Mas Xirgu Foundation (GRUPFRN), where the system has been installed.
LIFE RECYCLO is coordinated by TREEWATER SAS (France), together with five other partners from France, Luxembourg and Spain, including ICRA-CERCA (Sara Rodríguez-Mozaz, Gianluigi Buttiglieri, Sara Insa, Diana Álvarez and Marta Turull), with a total project budget of 1.48 M€.
The new LIFE RECYCLO prototype
The LIFE RECYCLO project proposes to treat graywater while also eliminating chemical micropollutants so that the resulting water can be reused in the laundries themselves. The treatment technique is based on an advanced oxidation system using hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light.
The ultraviolet light transforms hydrogen peroxide into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, which react with and degrade chemical contaminants. In addition, the UV rays disinfect the water.
Another advantage of this process is that it produces little treatment waste and directly degrades organic contaminants, unlike other technologies that only separate or concentrate them.
The goal of RECYCLO's solution is to save 50 to 80% of water, but also to remove 90% of the contaminants released from the laundry during washing. After an initial successful experiment in the facilities of the company TREEWATER in France, this patented system continues its development process and has been implemented in the laundry of the Ramon Noguera Foundation Group in Spain (Girona).
Day of visibility of projects related to water management
The day also served to give visibility to other LIFE projects related to water management, such as LIFE WAT'SAVEREUSE and LIFE BIODAPH2O. They were able to exhibit their posters presenting their own projects.
The presentation was attended by the TREEWATER project (French water treatment technology company), the Mas Xirgu Foundation (GRUPFRN) and Pop'Sciences of the University of Lyon.
