LIFE SALTEAU
Sustainable Drinking and Irrigation Water Production from Saline Alternative Water Resources.
Fecha de inicio: 1 September, 2024
Fecha fin: 28 February, 2029
Code: Project 101148475 — LIFE23-ENV-ES-SALTEAU
Proyect Coordinator: FCC AQUALIA SA (AQUA).
Beneficiaries:
- CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS (CIEMAT).
- NX FILTRATION BV (NX).
- AQUAPORIN AS (AQP).
- SOLARSPRING GMBH (SSP).
- OMYA GMBH (OMYA).
- UAL (Third linked party).
Ual Contact:
Juan Diego Gil Vergel (jgv132@ual.es)
Funding: LIFE PROGRAM.
Status: In progress.
ABSTRACT
Although alternative water resources (AWR), wastewater (WW), brackish (BW) and seawater (SW), are reliable water sources, their use is very limited in EU (1.6% water supply) due to relatively high costs, quality, tech reliability, new stringent EU regulation, and acceptance. AWR contain critical materials and resources that are not being recovered, which open an auspicious approach to generate revenues and reduce the cost of water by activating circular economy “wastewater and brine mining” schemes. Urgent new sustainable and viable solutions are needed to tackle freshwater and critical raw materials supply.
LIFE SALTEAU aims to create new and updated multipurpose infrastructures with revolutionary capabilities to gain the real value of AWR. Innovative technologies will be up-scaled, including microbial desalination cell, membrane-based processes (direct nanofiltration, biomimetic and membrane distillation), capacitive deionization and Ca/Mg recovery system, coupled to renewable energy (solar, wind and organic matter).
Long-term validation will be conducted in two Demo Sites, Mediterranean and Atlantic, at relevant scale (production during SALTEAU: freshwater (~400,000 m3 = 145,000 BW + 230,000 SW + 22,000 WW), materials (77 t Ca and 66 t Mg). This will serve as showcase for early adopters and end-users of freshwater and Ca/Mg products. A comprehensive exploitation plan has been already drafted (value proposition, customer segment, revenue streams, replication).
LIFE SALTEAU sets a new paradigm where AWR are cost-effective by reducing energy consumption: 26% (BW), 50% (SW) and 80% WW, and competitive levelized cost of water vs conventional solutions (€/m3): BW (0.5 > 0.3), SW (0.6 > 0.4) and reclaimed water (0.5 > 0.3). The adoption at industrial scale of SALTEAU outcomes will increase water availability in EU (2035) up to 8,050 Mm3/y (desal BW and SW = 10,020 Mm3/y + reclaimed water = 3,040 Mm3/y) to satisfy 5.4% of EU water demand.
Website: life salteau