IWA Busan 2012: Two new Dutch water technologies honored with IWA Global innovation awards
Two out of three Global grand winners of IWA’s Global project innovation awards 2012, involved latest Dutch water technology.
One of the winners was the demonstration plant Andijk of PWN Technologies with its innovative suspended ion exchange (SIX) and ceramic membranes (CeraMac).
The other winner was a pilot plant on the airport of Hong Kong where the University of Hong Kong uses seawater to flush toilets. The waste water is treated with the SANI Process, using sulphate reduction bacteria as developed in the Netherlands by the Delft University and KWR Watercycle research.
Both awards were handed out by director Wim van Vierssen of KWR watercycle research institute during the IWA World water conference on September 19th in Busan, Korea.
Second prestigious prize for professor Van Loosdrecht
A very special moment was the hand out of the award to the winners of the Hong Kong project. Again on stage was professor Mark van Loosdrecht of the Delft University. Three months earlier Van Loosdrecht won the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2012 during the Singapore Water Week.
(read more: Professor Mark van Loosdrecht takes stage at Singapore international water week 2012 – July 3, 2012)
Andijk drinking water station: showcase of professional water engineering
KWR-director Wim van Vierssen (second left) handed out the IWA Global Project Innovation Awards 2012 to PWN Technologies: Martien den Blanken, director PWN (left), Jonathan Clement, director PWN Technologies (second right) and Loet Rosenthal, sector manager PWN (right)
The demonstration plant Andijk III of PWN Technologies scored on the judging criteria of Innovation, Future value to the water engineering profession, and Sustainability. The demoplant is a pretreatment installation for the production of drinking water, integrating two new technologies that PWN Technologies developed based on suspended ion exchange (SIX) and ceramic membranes (CeraMac). SIX and CeraMac result in higher water quality, lower energy consumption and a lower environmental burden.
Earlier this year IWA organized regional competitions and PWN Technologies won the European edition.
(read more: PWN Technologies wins IWA innovation award with ceramic membranes and ion exchange - April 19, 2012)
Hong Kong airport: combi of seawater and SANI sulphate reduction bacteria
Three professors involved, from left to right: professor Guanghgo Chen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), professor George Ekema, University of Cape Town (UCT) and professor Mark van Loosdrecht, Technical University of Delft TU Delft).
The use of sea water to flush toilets is not new in Honk Hong. It is the overall combination with a range of water and energy saving elements, that makes the water project at the Hong Kong Airport so special. The universities of Hong Kong (China), Delft (Netherlands) and Cape Town (South Africa) work together on this pilot, saving the airport 52 per cent of its freshwater demand and 30,000 MWh of electricity annually. Besides flushing the toilet with salt water, the seawater is used as a coolant in the air-conditioning system.
Sulphate and phosphorous from the seawater
During the treatment of the waste water with the SANI (Sulfate reduction, Autotrophic denitrification, and Nitrification Integrated) process, the sulphate in the seawater is used for new biochemical processes in the carbon and nitrogen cycles for the sludge production to reduce. Making use of the magnesium ions in seawater, the new technology recovers phosphorus from urine in the form of magnesium ammonium phosphate, a valuable phosphorus and nitrogen containing fertilizer, by mixing hydrolyzed urine with seawater.
More information
Technical University of Delft
Department of Biotechnology
Mark van Loosdrecht - email: M.C.M.vanLoosdrecht@tudelft.nl
Delft, the Netherlands
+31 15 278 6990
www.tnw.tudelft.nl/en
PWN Technologies
Jonathan Clement
Velserbroek, the Netherlands
+31 23 541 3740
www.pwntechnologies.com
IWA Global project innovation awards
London, United Kingdom
+65 63 16 99 35
www.iwa-pia.org