This case study aims to maximize water reuse and will test the potential of industrial by-products for material recovery and reusage as reagents, adsorbents or coagulants for water treatment.
ARETUSA is the site owner: a public private partnership among ASA (the municipal water utility), SOLVAY Chimica Italia (the industrial company that uses reclaimed water) and Termomeccanica Ecologia (the technology provider) created with the aim of treating municipal wastewater for industrial reuse, and reducing the industrial consumption of high-quality groundwater. UNIVERSITÀ POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE, WEST SYSTEMS SRL and CPTM (Consorzio Polo Tecnologico Magona) want to drive this collaborative change and further increase Circular Economy in the water and chemical industry.
A monitoring and early warning system is developed for salinity mapping and to react to seawater intrusion. The system will analyse data and forecasts to predict salinity peaks so that influent flows to the plant could be managed by the Smart Equalization system to maximize reuse possibilities by Solvay.
Further options to reuse water with high salt concentration in other businesses are being analysed, to potentially incorporate them into a matchmaking platform. In this way, water reuse would be maximized at local level, defining an extremely flexible and replicable circular center.
On the other hand, industrial by-products like bentonite or out of specification soda and lime are tested as alternative reagents to increase circularity and reduce economic and environmental costs of wastewater treatments. The potential to reuse of chemical sludge from drinking water treatment plants is tested and analyzed, so as to engage potential users for follow-up actions.
