KonTriSol – Enabling Membrane Technologies for Drinking Water Supply

The research project KonTriSol develops solutions for technical, legal and economic barriers in the use of nanofiltration / reverse osmosis processes (NF/RO) in drinking water treatment.

Research areas and solution approaches:

  • Process engineering alternatives to NF/UO processes
  • Antiscalants – evaluation and alternatives
  • Treatment of the concentrates/potential for the removal of environmental contaminants
  • Eco toxicological and human toxicological assessment
  • Legal and economic barriers and suitable solution approaches
  • Holistic evaluation of action alternatives, transfer strategy to selected countries

Our focus:

  • Elimination of technical and regulatory barriers in drinking water treatment
  • Provision of practicable and tested solutions
  • Develop evaluation criteria and decision-making bases together with decision- and policy makers from the licensing practice
  • Support the evaluation and selection of technology and action alternatives for end users
  • Support the applicability, transferability and exportability of the solutions to other fields of application and markets

Drinking water treatment increasingly uses membrane separation technologies like nanofiltration and reverse osmosis (NF and RO), e.g. for the reduction of concentration of hardeners, inorganic water substances, natural organic matter or for the removal of anthropogenic micro pollutants. Compared to alternative processes like activated carbon filtration or ion exchange, NF and RO are notably superior. There are currently about 60 NF/RO plants in operation in Germany for drinking water treatment, the majority for reducing hardness, and some cases also in combined applications for removing organic micro pollutants. In addition, NF and RO are moving into the focus of the German water industry due to the increasing nitrate problem. Internationally, membranes have a high application potential for drinking water treatment in areas where water availability is limited and/or raw water resources are heavily polluted. In arid regions, a high water yield up to a ”Zero Liquid Discharge” (ZLD) is relevant.

NF/RO processes produce different quantities of concentrates with a correspondingly higher concentration of the separated substances, including antiscalants (mainly phosphonates and carboxylates). All disposal routes for the concentrates (direct or indirect discharge) are part of the plant permit with the approval of the responsible water authorities. In recent years, the discharge of concentrates into a water body has been viewed increasingly critically by the responsible licensing authorities, especially if the concentrates contain high concentrations of anthropogenic micro pollutants, including the added treatment substances or nutrient salts. Since a refusal of the discharge permit for the concentrates is usually equal to the end of NF/RO, solutions are required that secure the use of this innovative technology, which has many advantages, in drinking water treatment in the long term.

The increasing occurrence of treatment problems allows NF/RO processes to be considered a serious alternative to classical treatment processes. This makes the comprehensive investigation of the concentrate problem and the development of practical and approvable solutions necessary. The lack of long-term safe and approvable solutions is a significant technology barrier and leads to a decision-making dilemma and investment backlog in the water supply industry. Solutions are needed that overcome technical and licensing hurdles and enable a broad applicability of technical NF/RO innovations for the benefit of improved environmental and consumer protection. This is also crucial for the exportability of German technology in this field.

  • Objective 1: Remove existing technical and licensing barriers for the use of NF/RO technology in drinking water treatment.
  • Objective 2: Provide practical and tested technical solutions for NF/RO technologies.
  • Objective 3: Support the evaluation and selection of technologies and action alternatives for water supply companies through holistic evaluation concepts.
  • Objective 4: Support the applicability, transferability and exportability of these solutions to the water sector, but also to other fields of application and markets outside of Germany.

The project runs over a period of three years: 01.09.2019 to 31.08.2022.

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