New processes of the circular economy in water and wastewater treatment : Waterpro project publication

Abstract

This report presents results of research done in the WaterPro project New processes of the circular economy in water and wastewater treatment. In this project, water treatment solutions based on material streams produced as sidestreams or wastestreams of industrial processes or mining were researched and developed. These materials were modified for use as adsorbents or precipitation chemicals for water treatment solutions aiming to remove nutrients or metals. Materials such as paper mill sludge, slag, fly ash, jarosite, analcime, and brucite were used. Adsorption, chemical precipitation, and electrochemical precipitation were applied as water purification methods. Experiments were performed using model solutions and real wastewaters from different industries or other water resources. The components that were removed included nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate) and metals (zinc, copper, manganese, chromium, nickel, antimony, cobalt, and iron). Based on results, summarized in the report, metakaolin-based adsorbents were chosen for further experiments that will scale up from laboratory studies to smallscale and pilot experiments.