INTECH4WATER

INTECH4WATER is focused within the thematic area of the Circular Economy, with the aim of enhancing, reusing, and recycling wastewater from municipal treatment processes and industrial processes. The objective of INTECH4WATER is to develop a new system of integrated technologies for the purification, enhancement, and recycling of water from the entire management cycle of municipal treatment plants. The goal is to make the entire purification process more efficient, ensure better quality of water released into natural water bodies, and consequently provide greater protection for the environment and human health.

The project aims to integrate into a single system innovative, safe, and sustainable technologies (ceramic/photocatalytic/adsorbent filters, advanced oxidation processes using UV or Ozone treatment, and microalgae) designed to eliminate the most common contaminants in wastewater (nutrients, emerging pollutants, microplastics, pathogenic bacteria). All experimental phases will be guided by advanced statistical analysis and accompanied by chemical-microbiological analyses.

The goal is to valorize the purified water also for irrigation purposes, secondary raw materials to be used as fertilizers or as feed, and microalgal biomass for the energy sector.

ISSMC will develop multifunctional composite filters for wastewater treatment capable of promoting the reduction of various types of pollutants by implementing adsorption functionalities, reduction of pathogenic microorganisms, and advanced oxidation. In the context of advanced sustainable design, the filters will be based on inorganic nanophases integrated with biopolymers/biomasses possibly recycled from industrial waste. ISSMC will leverage its experience in the development of nanomaterials according to the “safe and sustainable-by-design (SSbD)” approach aimed at implementing low environmental impact processes and controlling the reactivity of nanomaterials while preserving their functionality throughout their lifecycle.