SERPIC

Pollutants in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can include prescription and over-the-counter drugs, personal care products, and chemicals used in agriculture and industry as well as pathogens, antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), collectively called contaminants of emerging concern (CECs).

Development of technologies to reduce CECs from conventional WWTP effluent, and provide available safe water for agricultural irrigation, is the motivation for the SERPIC (Sustainable Electrochemical Reduction of contaminants of emerging concern and Pathogens in WWTP effluent for Irrigation of Crops) project.

SERPIC will develop an integral technology, based on a multi-barrier approach, to treat the effluents of wastewater treatment plants to maximise the reduction of contaminants of emerging concern.

A membrane nanofiltration technology will be applied to reduce CECs in its permeate stream by at least 90 % while retaining the nutrients. A residual disinfection using chlorine dioxide produced electrochemically will be added to the stream used for crops irrigation (Route A). The CECs in the polluted concentrate (retentate) stream will be reduced by at least 80 % by light driven electro-chemical oxidation. When discharged into the aquatic system (route B), it will contribute to the quality improvement of the surface water body.

A prototype treatment plant will be set-up and evaluated for irrigation in long-term tests with the help of agricultural test pots. A review investigation of CECs spread will be performed at four regional showcases in Europe and Africa. It will include a detailed assessment of the individual situation and surrounding condition. Transfer concepts will be developed to transfer the results of the treatment technology to other regions, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

The overall aim of the SERPIC project is to investigate and minimise the spread of CECs, antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs), with a focus on additional water sources for food production.

The objectives (in respect to NIVA's project role) are:

• Develop the enhanced nanofiltration technology, capable to effectively separate target CECs from the nutrients essential for crops during irrigation.
• Identify optimal operating conditions for high rejection of selected CECs in particular ARGs during nanofiltration.
• Test and evaluate the performance of commercially available membranes in the bench-scale and/or pilot-scale crossflow systems using real WWTP effluent.
• Identify suitable nanofiltration concentrate treatment methods.
• Select the most promising and best performing membrane(s) for prototype testing in demonstration case.
• Facilitate build up and testing of the prototype in respect to nanofiltration component.

The project is led by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V. (Fraunhofer IST + ISE), with partners from the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Università degli Studi di Ferrara (UNIFE), Universidade do Porto (UP), Stellenbosch University (SU), AdP VALOR, Serviços Ambientais, SA (AdP), SolarSpring GmbH (SSP), and Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA).