Over the past decade, membrane bioreactors have been increasingly implemented to purify municipal wastewater. However, even with submerged modules which offer the lowest costs, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology remains in most cases more expensive than conventional activated sludge processes. In addition, the European municipal MBR market is to date a duopoly of two non-European producers, despite many initiatives to develop local MBR filtration systems. In 2005, the European Commission decided to finance four projects dedicated to further technological development of MBR process: the four projects AMEDEUS, EUROMBRA, MBR-TRAIN and PURATREAT were implemented from October 2005 up to December 2009 and joined their efforts within the coalition “MBR-Network” (www.mbr-network.eu). The present report synthesises the major outcomes of the project AMEDEUS, conducted from October 2005 up to May 2009. The AMEDEUS research project aimed at tackling both issues of accelerating the development of competitive European MBR filtration technologies, as well as increasing acceptance of the MBR process through decreased capital and operation costs. The project targets the two market segments for MBR technology in Europe: the construction of small plants (semi-central, 50 to 2,000 population equivalent or p.e., standardized and autonomous), and the medium-size plants (central, up to 100.000 p.e.) for plant upgrade.

Within the study “IC-Pharma” a graphical benchmark of the occurrence of 30 priority pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) covering different therapeutic classes such as analgesics, antibiotics, lipid lowering drugs, beta blockers, tranquilizers, and cytostatics in the urban water cycle was conducted. The results are based on an extensive data set collected during several monitoring campaigns in Berlin and the Canton Zurich. This benchmark of the occurrence of priority pharmaceuticals allows water practitioners from other sites to compare detected concentrations of priority PhACs in STP effluents, surface water and groundwater.

The study aims at validating the point-of-use investigations on long-term gravity-driven ultrafiltration for a scaled-up system, which could produce drinking water for a community of 100-200 inhabitants using natural surface water. Eawag, KWB and Opalium conceived a membrane-based small-scale system (SSS) which can operate without crossflow, backflush, aeration or chemical cleaning. Equipped with a biosand filter as pre-treatment (not used in South Africa), it is designed to be robust, energy-sufficient (gravity-driven) and run with restricted chemical intervention (only residual chlorine). The containerised unit (10’) requires to be fed with raw water at a 2 m-height (energy-equivalent to <8 Wh/m3). As sole operational requirement, the membrane reactor is to be drained (i.e. emptied) on daily to weekly basis to superficially remove the material retained by the membrane and accumulated in the module. Otherwise, the system, which is only driven by a 40 cm differential pressure head (i.e. 40 mbar), is totally self-determined and autonomous. This report details the validation tests performed at Ogunjini in the region of Durban (South Africa) from February to April 2010: the gravity-driven UF compact unit showed promising results in regards to flux stabilization and flow capacity. The unit was operated in South Africa with Ogunjini surface water and was run with restricted chemical intervention or maintenance (no backflush, no aeration, no crossflow and no chemical). Under South African environmental conditions and with direct filtration of the river water and only one manual drainage of the membrane reactor every weekday, the unit could fulfill the design specification in terms of water production (5 m3/d) as long as the turbidity of the raw water remained in a reasonable level (up to 160 NTU), with a filtration flux typically around 4 to 6 L/h.m² (corrected to 20°C). This value was in the same range as the lab results and was consistent with the first phase results (around 5-7 L/h.m² after biosand filtration). However, the flux dropped significantly to a range of 2 to 4 L/h.m² after a rain event resulting in a turbidity peak over several days up to > 600 NTU. This demonstrated that for variable raw water types with expected turbidity peaks above 100 NTU, a pre-treatment would be required for the system (biosand filter or other). The performance of microbiological tests confirmed the integrity of the membrane and the ability of the system to achieve complete disinfection.

Die Umfrage des DVGW wurde Anfang 2009 in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin gGmbH (KWB) durchgeführt. Der Fragebogen mit insgesamt 16 Fragen (-> Anhang A) zielt darauf ab, einen bundesweiten Überblick zum Brunnenbetrieb und unterschiedlichen Instandhaltungsmaßnahmen derjenigen Wasserversorger zu erhalten, die eigene Brunnen betreiben. Die vorliegende Auswertung wurde am Kompetenzzentrum Wasser Berlin durchgeführt. Nicht enthalten sind die vier ersten Fragen mit den allgemeinen Angaben des beantwortenden Unternehmens und einer Frage zum Thema Energieeffizienz (Seite 1 des Umfragebogens). Diese wurden durch den DVGW selbst ausgewertet (vgl. Plath and Wichmann 2009). Der brunnenbezogene Teil (Seiten 2 und 3) enthielt die vier Themenkomplexe: (1) Stammdaten (Fragen 5 bis 7) Es wurden die absolute Anzahl der in Betrieb befindlichen Brunnen und ihr durchschnittliches Alter erfragt. Diese Fragen dienen der Klassifizierung und Auswertung. Den Brunnenneubau betreffend, wurde eine Angabe zur Budgetplanung erbeten, um die folgenden Fragen zu Brunnenzustand, Alterung und Regenerierung in Bezug zum Neubau setzen zu können. (2) Brunnenbetrieb, Brunnenzustand und Alterung (Fragen 8 bis 11). Zum Brunnenbetrieb wurden die Art der Brunnensteuerung und die während des Betriebes erfassten Daten und Intervalle zur Betriebsüberwachung abgefragt, ebenso die Methoden und Intervalle zur Brunnenzustandsermittlung. (3) Brunnenregenerierung (Fragen 12 bis 14) Die Fragen zur Notwendigkeit, Veranlassung und Erfolgsbemessung von Regenerierungen dienen der Charakterisierung der Instandhaltungsstrategie. (4) Betriebsstrategie (Fragen 15 und 16) Abschließend wurde nach der Betriebsstrategie und einer möglichen Einflussnahme auf die Brunnenalterung durch Änderungen im Betrieb gefragt. Ziel der Auswertung ist es, den Stand der Praxis der Betriebsführung von Brunnen zu erarbeiten. Durch die gekoppelte Auswertung aller vier Themenkomplexe kann weiterhin geprüft werden, inwiefern die festgestellten Betriebs- und Instandhaltungsstrategien von der Größe des Betreibers oder der Altersstruktur der Brunnen abhängen. Durch den Vergleich der erarbeiteten Ergebnisse mit den in DVGW-Arbeitsblatt W125 (DVGW 2004) festgehaltenen Empfehlungen Forschungskann Raum für Verbesserungen, wie z.B. oder Weiterbildungsbedarf identifiziert werden. Gleichzeitig bietet die bundesweite Ermittlung Gelegenheit zur Einordnung des eigenen Standes der Praxis für die einzelnen Betreiber.

Rver Bank Filtration (RBF) is a drinking water (pre-)treatment that can remove a wide variety of surface water contaminants . However, the efficiency of this natural treatment process depends on hydrochemical, aquifer- and operational characteristics. Therefore, complementary treatment options may be required in order to build up a multiple-barrier-system and obtain drinking water quality. As a follow-up to the TECHNEAU WP5.2 field investigations, this report aims at identifying potential post-treatment schemes for drinking water production at three river bank filtration sites in New Delhi - Palla, Nizamuddin and Najarfgarh – for which physicochemical parameters as well as levels of inorganic and trace organic substances and microbial contamination have been measured during field campaigns in 2007 and 2008 (see deliverables D5.2.2 and D5.2.6). The three investigated RBF sites in Delhi have distinctive geographical locations and contamination exposures. For each of them, critical water parameters were identified that present a challenge with regards to drinking water production, for which different treatment technologies are envisaged (see table below). For Palla and Najafgarh, one specific water component (fluoride and salinity, respectively) requires targeted treatment. For Nizamuddinm, however, where surface water is highly exposed to contamination from poorly treated waste water, theoretical post-treatment options are no longer efficient and extensive conventional wastewater treatment is recommended. One other possible option for Nizamuddin is the Oxidation / Biofiltration / Membrane technology (OBM process) developed by NTNU and SINTEF within the TECHNEAU project and a specific report on its application to Delhi is planned within TECHNEAU WP7.9. This report shows the theoretical post-treatment options for river bank filtration sites in Delhi. The strong technological requirements for Nizamuddin and Najafgarh seem inadequate to be currently implemented. The priority in Delhi would be to develop an integrated water and wastewater management, in order to reduce contamination in the surface water and thereby lower the technological requirements for drinking water production.

The project OXIRED was initiated to assess the potential of a combination of natural systems such as bank filtration (BF) and artificial recharge (AR) and oxidation processes in order to improve the degradability of DOC and the removal of trace organics during water treatment. In this literature study, treatment schemes, which combine subsurface passage with oxidation processes, were evaluated with regard to the potential removal of DOC and trace organics, by theoretical considerations and case study analyses. The objectives were i) to estimate the degradation of bulk organic matter and trace organics in such combined systems, ii) to assess the potential for toxic by-products and iii) to describe different possible schemes combining natural systems (BF & AR) and oxidation processes. Available data generally shows good removal of the substances identified as persistent during BF & AR by oxidation processes. Carbamazepine, for example, is poorly degradable during bank filtration, but ozonation leads to a transformation of more than 97%. If ozonation alone does not suffice, advanced oxidation processes may enhance the transformation. E.g. literature gives a values of < 50% removal of Iopamidol by ozonation. However, transformation increases up to 88% using advanced oxidation processes, such as O3/H2O2 and O3/UV. Investigations on the formation of possible toxic by-products have shown the general possibilities to control the formation of bromate by decreasing the pH, avoiding free dissolved ozone in the reactor and/or by adding H2O2. Only a low risk of exposure of the potentially forming nitrosamines in drinking water after artificial recharge could be identified. Especially the cancerogenic metabolite NDMA is degraded during subsurface passage. Three reference treatment schemes were identified: (A): surface water is treated via oxidation before infiltration into artificial recharge ponds.(B): a river bank filtration with short retention times (<5 days) is used as a pretreatment step before the successive oxidation and artificial recharge (AR). (C1/C2): oxidation is applied subsequent to subsurface passage after bank filtration and artificial recharge. Due to the possible formation of toxic by-products and the increased assimilable DOC in scheme C (Examples for C1 Mülheim Styrum-East and Le Pecq Croissy & C2 Prairie Waters Project and the Bi´eau Process) a post-treatment including disinfection after oxidation is necessary. Additional post-treatment in schemes A (implemented at Mülheim Dohne) and B depends on the redox conditions and the travel times during the subsurface passage. However, although there is a lack of practical data, the enhancement of BDOC via oxidation prior to the underground passage seems theoretically more promising than the reverse configuration. It is therefore recommended that any further experimental program in OXIRED should focus on the schemes A and B and include a cost-benefit analysis of the additional first BF step.

The project Aquisafe assesses the potential of selected near-natural mitigation systems, such as constructed wetlands or infiltration,zones, to reduce diffuse pollution from agricultural sources and consequently protect surface water resources. A particular aim is the attenuation of nutrients and pesticides. Based on the review of available information and preliminary tests within Aquisafe 1 (2007-2009), the second project phase Aquisafe 2 (2009-2012) is structured along the following main components: (i) Development and evaluation of GIS-based approaches for the identification of diffuse pollution hotspots, as well as model-based tools for the simulation of nutrient reduction from mitigation zones (ii) Assessment of nutrient retention capacity of different types of mitigation zones in international case studies in the Ic watershed in France and the Upper White River watershed in the USA under natural conditions, such as variable flow. (iii) Identification of efficient mitigation zone designs for the retention of relevant pesticides in laboratory and technical scale experiments at UBA in Berlin.The present study focused on (i) and aimed at testing GIS approaches for the localization of critical source areas (CSAs) of diffuse NO3- pollution in rural catchments with low data availability as a basis for the planning of mitigation measures. We tested a universal GIS-based approach, which is a combination of published methods. The five parameters land use, soil, slope, riparian buffer strips and distance to surface waters were identified as most relevant for diffuse agricultural NO3 - pollution. Each parameter was classified into three risk classes, based on a literature review. The risk classes of the five parameters were then averaged in a GIS overlay in order to find areas with highest risk. The Ic catchment in Brittany, France, served as a study site to test the applicability of the chosen approach. The result of the overlay was compared (a) with measured NO3 - loads in seven subcatchments of the Ic catchment and (b) with the results of a previous analysis by the numerical model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Regarding (a) it was found that higher mean risk classes in a subcatchment correspond with higher measured NO3- loads. However, due to the small number of data points a reliable statistical analysis was not possible. Regarding (b), the plotting of the loads predicted by SWAT against the mean risk class for the 32 SWAT subcatchments show a similar, but poorer relationship. The GIS approach was further analyzed regarding its sensitivity to each of the parameters. The analysis showed that the method is not very sensitive to most of the parameters, i.e. risk class distribution (or the choice of CSA) does not change greatly if one parameter is omitted. Nevertheless, if data quality for some parameters is known to be low, sensitivity of the result to the parameter should be considered in addition.In summary, it can be stated that the applied GIS overlay is a promising, easy to handle approach. First experiences on the Ic catchment indicate that GIS-based approaches can be robust, even for lower data availability. As a result, further work is suggested towards developing a universally applicable GIS method for nitrate CSA identification. Main points to be assessed are the number of classes, the necessary weighting of parameters and the best inclusion of different nitrogen pathways between field and surface water.

Over the past decade, membrane bioreactors have been increasingly implemented to purify municipal wastewater. However, even with submerged modules which offer the lowest costs, the membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology remains in most cases more expensive than conventional activated sludge processes. In addition, the European municipal MBR market is to date a duopoly of two non-European producers, despite many initiatives to develop local MBR filtration systems. In 2005, the European Commission decided to finance four projects dedicated to further technological development of MBR process: the four projects AMEDEUS, EUROMBRA, MBR-TRAIN and PURATREAT were implemented from October 2005 up to December 2009 and joined their efforts within the coalition “MBR-Network” (www.mbr-network.eu). The present report synthesises the major outcomes of the project AMEDEUS, conducted from October 2005 up to May 2009. The AMEDEUS research project aimed at tackling both issues of accelerating the development of competitive European MBR filtration technologies, as well as increasing acceptance of the MBR process through decreased capital and operation costs. The project targets the two market segments for MBR technology in Europe: the construction of small plants (semi-central, 50 to 2,000 population equivalent or p.e., standardized and autonomous), and the medium-size plants (central, up to 100.000 p.e.) for plant upgrade.

Within the 3.5 year ENREM project (Enhanced Nutrient REmoval in Membranebioreactors) in Berlin-Margaretenhöhe a novel and patented process was investigated to demonstrate the feasibility of a semi-decentralised solution reaching high effluent requirements set by the water authority of Berlin. This novel process could be a solution for suburban areas of Berlin which are not connected to central sewer system. The biological process combines enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) with post denitrification in MBR technology without dosing of any carbon sources. The process configuration of this demonstration plant enables advanced wastewater nutrients removal (C, P and N) and could be a promising option for wastewater treatment wherever high effluent qualities are required. A second prototype MBR system was operated in parallel, applying a different biological process, e.g. without biological phosphorus removal, enabling a comparison of these different technological approaches. The demonstration plant showed high elimination rates for COD (>95%), phosphorus (>99%) and nitrogen (up to 98%) when operated within the appropriate range of design conditions. The operational experience within the first years showed that there is a possibility for process stabilisation by changing the ratio of the process steps. For this reason the volume of the anoxic zone was enlarged by reducing the aerobic volume in Feb 2008. The positive effects could be seen on the basis of the effluent concentrations after a short period of adaptation. The membrane filtration performance was very reliable with a new cleaning strategy: Two membranes were operated alternating with an operational flux of 15 – 20 L/m²/h and a maintenance cleaning with low chemical concentration. Different cleaning agents were used in order to evaluate the cleaning efficiencies. An economical evaluation of the demonstration plant was performed in comparison to the existing wastewater treatment costs of app. 7 €/m3 by trucking away and the prototype MBR plant. Operated on the same site, the two MBR systems were used to calculate the actual costs, in relation to the effluent quality, and to perform a scale-up up to 5000 pe considering four different effluent quality classes. The results showed that the ENREM process applied in the demonstration plant is economically an alternative for plant sizes of 5000 pe and larger. For plant sizes smaller than 5000 pe, the prototype MBR system equipped with precipitation and a downstream adsorption filter for enhanced phosphorus removal proofed to be the more viable solution.

Advances in the analysis of organic trace compounds revealed that many of the in high amounts prescribed pharmaceutical active components as well as diagnostic agents are not removed by conventional waste water treatment techniques and that some of them can accumulate in the aquatic environment. Because most of the compounds applied in medicine are excreted via urine the emission into the aquatic environment could be reduced if the urine is separated at the source and treated by a specific process. In the project PharmaTreat it was studied if the reductive treatment with zero-valent iron is a suitable, simple and low cost process for the treatment of urine. The results show that the selected antibiotics (Ciprofloxacine, Piperacillin, Cefuroxime), cytostatic drugs (Ifosfamide and Methotrexate) and iodinated X-ray contrast media (Iopromide and Diatrizoate) are transformed by the treatment with zero-valent iron. The reaction rate constant depends highly on the pH. Under acidic conditions the mechanism of the transformation is most probably the reaction with adsorbed atomic hydrogen which is produced on the iron surface. The increase of the pH-value from 3 to 7, which might happen if the solution is discharged into the waste water system, leads to the precipitation of the dissolved iron resulting in a strong removal of the transformation products out of the solution by co-precipitation. The toxicity of the remaining transformation products was determined using the growth inhibition test (DIN 38412-37). It could be demonstrated that the biological impact of the pharmaceuticals is reduced by the transformation with zero-valent iron. By using the Zahn-Wellens-Test (DIN EN ISO 9888) it could be shown that the transformation products are better biodegradable in contrast to the original compounds, except for the iodinated Xraycontrast media. The treatment of one cubic meter urine costs 9.88 Euro. The cost estimation is based on conditions with the lowest material consumption and not on the reaction time. According to the calculated price for on cubic meter the treatment of about 6,525 m3 urine (the amount of urine produced in all hospitals of Berlin) costs ca. 64,500 Euro/a. By accelerating the reaction the treatment time can be shorten but the specific material consumption is higher whereas the energy costs are lower. In dependence of the actual prices for iron, acid and electricity the costs can be optimized for the treatment.