Water. Desalination + reuse
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/724419
Water. desalination + reuse September 2016 Far Site 37 Q & A J e f f M o s h e r "We are figuring out how to manage a portfolio of water resources" • Traditionally, we have tended to silo research pro- grammes as potable water, wastewater, or recycled water, and then by water in the environment and water supply. We want to develop new research approaches that integrate these areas, working across water supply and wastewater. The obvious example is potable reuse. Instead of discharging water, we can take it and treat it, either to augment water supplies, or for direct reuse. • WE&RF was formed in May 2016 by merging WateReuse Research Foundation (WRF) and Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). WRF was focused on recycled water, ocean and brackish water desalination, potable and non-potable; and WERF looked at wastewater, stormwater, resource recovery, green infrastructure, and the impacts of climate change. We have a budget of £8 million, which we will leverage through co-sponsored research and federal funding. • We are trying to figure out better and more innovative ways to manage a portfolio of water sources, which could be groundwater, surface water, stormwater, recycled water, or ocean desalination. If we are going to do more stormwater capture, we have to understand precipitation patterns better so that we can plan for it. We know that we can improve water quality by keeping wastewater discharges out of rivers. There are multiple benefits with many of these projects. We need to take a broader view, and to create integrated research programmes that incorporate multiple research projects. • It's a combination of environmental benefits and improving the reliability of water supplies to make communities more resilient. One trend is decentralised stormwater capture, off a parking lot or the roof of your house, maybe treating and using it on site, or augmenting groundwater through a dry well, rather than just having it run off into the ocean. We need to know a couple of things: Do we need to treat that stormwater before we put it in the ground? Can we use green infrastructure to slow it down, like a swale or green roof? It helps from a water quality point of view if you can capture and treat it, rather than have it go into a river. • Using non-traditional sources of water and working out how to do that in an integrated way, that's what we're working on. I envision a five-year work plan to lay out the process, with funding goals. Certain projects will be done in sequence. We have some work to do to figure out what the questions are, and then to develop the research projects to answer those questions. What are the big trends in water research right now? How does WE&RF fit in ? How do you envisage the new research programmes shaping up? What will be your priorities in your new role? What are the big challenges in the medium term (three to five years)? The new head of research at the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation outlines a vision for research to support integrated water resource management. Hoek. The results of the pilot so impressed the partner company that Water Planet will now outfit a number of the mobile trailers in its fleet with PolyCera mem- branes to help filter the water, as well as with Intelliflux, Water Planet's self-adaptive system control application. At present the company is focusing on small to mid-sized industrial water reuse applica- tions, but it has aspirations to grow into larger and larger appli- cations, and has the capability to "tailor the chemistry quite a bit, making membranes that are tighter or looser, and adapting, adjusting and accommodating the rigours of different applica- tions", says Hoek. "We have a lot of experience in industrial water reuse, and we think it's a market ripe for disruption in certain seg- ments. The first manifestation of PolyCera was developed with that industrial water reuse ap- plication and market in mind," he says. The three target segments are membrane bioreactor applica- tions, for which Water Planet favours flat sheet membranes, "particularly for industrial waters because they're really difficult to treat, and the flat sheet form factor tends to be a bit more robust, more fouling tolerant, and easier to clean". Additionally, Water Planet has the tertiary filtration market in its sights, particularly any po- tential clients who have a system that uses a bioreactor followed by a gravity-based clarifier. "The solids from the bioreactor settle down, and then the overflow, the clarified effluent, if you want to reuse it, or in some cases because of tighter regulations if you want to discharge it, that water needs further filtration and polishing," says Hoek. In such cases, a pressure-driven filtration pass using PolyCera would produce "very high quality water," he adds. The third target segment is any industrial wastewaters with high organic content, whether it is biodegradeable or oxidiseable – high BOD (biologi- cal oxygen demand) or high COD (chemical oxygen demand) waters. With a treasure chest of intel- lectual property, and aspirations to begin tailoring chemistry, expect some exciting develop- ments ahead for Water Planet.