Bank filtration schemes for the production of drinking water are increasingly affected by constituents such as sulphate and organic micropollutants (OMP) in the source water. Within the European project AquaNES, the combination of bank filtration followed by capillary nanofiltration (NF) is being demonstrated as a potential solution for these challenges at pilot scale. As the bank filtration process reliably reduces total and dissolved organic carbon (TOC/DOC), biopolymers, algae and particles, membrane fouling is reduced resulting in a long term stability of operation of the NF. With the new developed membrane module for capillary NF a reduction of sulphate, selected micropollutants (depending on size & charge) and hardness can be achieved together with further removal of DOC. Dissolved iron and manganese concentrations in bank filtrate were not a problem for the capillary NF under anoxic conditions with a good cleaning concept including backwash with anoxic permeate, forward flush and chemical cleaning.

Bank filtration schemes for the production of drinking water are increasingly affected by constituents such as sulphate and organic micropollutants (OMP) in the source water. Within the European project AquaNES, the combination of bank filtration followed by capillary nanofiltration (capNF) is being demonstrated as a potential solution for these challenges at pilot scale. As the bank filtration process reliably reduces total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), biopolymers, algae and particles, membrane fouling is reduced resulting in long term operational stability of capNF systems. Iron and manganese fouling could be reduced with the possibility of anoxic operation of capNF. With the newly developed membrane module HF-TNF a good retention of sulphate (67–71%), selected micropollutants (e.g., EDTA: 84–92%) and hardness (41–55%) was achieved together with further removal of DOC (82–87%). Fouling and scaling could be handled with a good cleaning concept with acid and caustic. With the combination of bank filtration and capNF a possibility for treatment of anoxic well water without further pre-treatment was demonstrated and retention of selected current water pollutants was shown.

Zusammenfassung: Momentan wird die Forderung nach einer Erweiterung von Kläranlagen um eine Stufe zur weitergehenden Elimination organischer Spurenstoffe in der Fachwelt kontrovers diskutiert. Als effiziente Verfahren werden hierfür die Oxidation durch Ozonung und die Adsorption an Aktivkohle betrachtet. Neben der Verbesserung des Gewässer- und Ressourcenschutzes bedarf die Einführung dieser Verfahren zusätzlicher Energie und erzeugt weitere damit verbundene negative Umweltauswirkungen (zum Beispiel Ausstoß von Treibhausgasen). Bei der hier durchgeführten Ökobilanz werden diese möglichen negativen Umweltauswirkungen der Verfahren zur Spurenstoffeliminierung genauer quantifiziert. Dabei werden weitere Ziele einer weitergehenden Abwasserreinigung (weitestgehende Entfernung von Phosphor mit Flockungsfiltration und saisonale UVDesinfektion) bei allen Varianten mit einbezogen, um auch den Anteil der Spurenstoffelimination an den gesamten Auswirkungen einer zukünftigen weitergehenden Abwasserreinigung zu erfassen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Ozonung oder der Einsatz von Pulveraktivkohle bzw. Kornaktivkohleadsorbern je nach geforderter Effizienz der Spurenstoffentfernung einen hohen zusätzlichen Primärenergieaufwand (+ 10-103 %) und auch ein hohes zusätzliches Treibhauspotenzial (+ 8-100 %) im Vergleich zu einer Modellkläranlage der Größenklasse 5 erzeugt. Entscheidend für den zusätzlichen Aufwand sind neben der Qualität des zu behandelnden Klärwerksablaufs (organische Stoffe als DOC) auch die Reinigungsziele für die Spurenstoffelimination und damit die notwendige Dosierung von Ozon oder Aktivkohle. Dieser Aspekt sollte zukünftig in der Diskussion über die Qualitätsziele der weitergehenden Abwasserreinigung berücksichtigt werden.

Soil aquifer treatment (SAT) is one of the most promising water reclamation and storage techniques in water reuse. This document summarizes the experiences gained in two full scale sites (Shafdan and El Port de la Selva) focused on overcoming the barriers associated with this low-cost technology.

Spree und Havel sind langsam fließende Gewässer, deren Wassermenge besonders durch die Reduzierung des Braunkohletagebaus am Oberlauf der Spree seit 1990 kontinuierlich zurückgeht. Die Berliner Wasserbetriebe leiten in diese Vorfluter das biologisch gereinigte Abwasser (Klarwasser) ein, das die Gewässersituation in Bezug auf Keime, NährstofFe und organisehe Spurenstoffe beeinflusst. Maßnahmen an der Quelle zur Vermeidung oder Verminderung des StofFeintrages in den Wasserkreislauf, eine Abwasserreinigung mit Ozonung, Pulverkohle sowie Membranfiltration könnten hier eine verbesserte Entfernung bewirken. Die Berliner Wasserbetriebe und das Kompetenzzentrum Berlin haben gemeinsam mit der TU Berlin zur Spurenstoff- und Keimentfernung das Verfahren der Ozonung von gereinigtem Abwasser durchgeführt. Das Ziel der Ozonung ist es, die Spurenstoffe möglichst weitreichend zu entfernen. Gleichzeitig lag der Fokus darauf, neben den Indikatororganismen für Fäkalverunreinigungen auch Krankheitserreger, besonders die Viren zu untersuchen, und zu bewerten. Es ist besteht das Interesse eine zukunftsweisende und kompakte Technologie, die alle Ziele umfasst, zu realisieren.

Ozone process control in secondary effluent used for elimination of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) requires the use of surrogates, such as the relative reduction of UV absorption at 254 nm (DUVA254) to adapt the ozone dose to a varying water quality. In the present study, a closed-loop process control based on two online UVA254 measurements was successfully implemented and tested under realistic conditions with ozone doses from 0.2 to 1.05 mg-O3/mg-DOC at a pilot scale ozonation system with subsequent coagulation filtration at a municipal wastewater treatment plant (DOC ~ 13 mg/L, UVA254 ~27m-1, and nitrite peaks of up to 1.6 mg-N/L). It could be shown that measuring the UVA254 at the ozonation effluent was superior to the measurement of UVA254 at the filter effluent in terms of response time due to changes in water quality, whereas online measurement at the filter effluent showed a better agreement with laboratory data and a reduced maintenance interval due to less particles. Additional online nitrite measurement is not necessary as the ozone consumption by nitrite directly impacts DUVA254.

Ozonation is known as a suitable technical process to eliminate trace organic compounds (TrOC) in secondary effluent. To decide if ozonation is a suitable option as an upgrade of a specific wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), ozonation experiments in laboratory-scale can help to avoid the operation of expensive and labour intensive pilot plants. Such laboratory experiments should be conducted at similar conditions and by the same methods in order to achieve a better comparability of the results. In this study, potential impacts of sample dilution due to the addition of an ozone stock solution, water temperature, and concentration of suspended solids (TSS) on TrOC elimination and UVA254 reduction (delta UVA254) were investigated. The results show that a change in water temperature within a range of 10 to 30°C and sample dilution of less than 20% due to the addition of ozone stock solution at batch ozonation, respectively, does neither have a significant impact on achieved TrOC elimination nor or delta UVA254. Suspended solids affected the TrOC elimination and delta UVA254 at TSS concentrations of more than 30 mg/L, whereas at low TSS concentrations (< 4 mg/L), the impact of TSS was found to be neglectable.

Nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, from municipal and industrial water streams contribute to the pollution or reduce the ecological potential of receiving water bodies. Recovering or reducing the nutrient content of waste streams, thus reducing the amounts of phosphorous and nitrogen that ends up in the water bodies, will contribute to a better environment. The first part of this report describes two tests performed to treat the concentrate of the reverse osmosis process at the Torreele facility. The first test used a natural system based on willows; the second test was based on post-denitrification MBBR. The willows proved able to remove nutrients for more than 30%, resulting in a substantial cost benefit for discharge which could make it economical feasible when installed at full-scale to treat the total volume of RO concentrate. Contrary to the willows, that even remove part of the nitrogen in winter, the post-denitrification MBBR was only efficient when N-NO3- exceeded 30 mg/L. The variable N-NO3- N-NO3- concentration and salinity of RO concentrate seemed to be limiting factors for a good performance. The second part of this report summarizes the activities regarding the optimization of water and nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) management at the reuse site Braunschweig, Germany. A detailed analysis of supply and demand of both, water and nutrients, for the reuse site was conducted. The optimization potential is especially high for nitrogen management, since the simultaneous supply via the Braunschweig wastewater treatment plant and additional conventional nitrogen fertilizer application by farmers result in an oversupply of nitrogen, losses to environment and a low efficient reuse compared to the total potential of renewable nitrogen in wastewater or sludge. Following this analysis, two possible solutions are discussed (fertigation and technical nutrient recovery), which are practically relevant for the Braunschweig reuse scheme in mid- and long-term timescale. Results indicate a high potential to increase the efficiency of nitrogen recycling. Simultaneously irrigation adopted on water demand of plants can be achieved.

This report describes different options for tertiary treatment of secondary effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants for the purpose of water reuse. For each of the treatment trains, associated environmental impact (represented by energy demand and related global warming potential) and risk reduction potential (i.e. removal of chemical and microbial contaminants) are described based on the results of the DEMOWARE case studies. This should inform water professionals about impacts and benefits of different options for producing reclaimed water, enabling an informed decision on an adequate treatment train depending on the water quality targets for the respective reuse purpose.