LIFE HIDAQUA

Sustainable water management to decrease the emission of pollutants from industry and the exploitation of alternative water sources, preserving the quality of natural water bodies and the quantity of natural drinking water resources.

The LIFE HIDAQUA project addresses water management in high water demanding industries, by tackling environmental problems such as the depletion of natural drinking water sources; the low ecological and chemical status of natural water bodies and the burdening of the environment with the discharging of liquids and the landfilling of wastes from water treatment processes.

The proposed water treatment system is based on electrodialysis and reverse osmosis with the use of recycled membranes, which can be used for the simultaneous preparation of demineralized water for industrial purposes from all three alternative sources (recycled water, harvested rainwater and brackish water). Moreover, Zero Liquid Discharge and Zero Waste technical solutions are optimized and demonstrated combined with the water treatment system. In this way, all residues will be recycled into secondary raw materials which will be mainly used in the construction sector.

Within the frame of the project, a Decision-Making Tool is developed for the design and selection of the most optimal alternative water management solutions for the exploitation of alternative sources, balancing cost and treatment efficiency and social and environmental impacts.

The Eurecat’s Sustainability Unit participates in the optimization of the prototype and the Zero Liquid Discharge and Zero Waste system, in the development of the pilot and the Decision-Making tool and in the monitoring of the environmental impact of the prototype.

The project also counts with the participation of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), Geologija d.o.o Idrija, HIDRIA, the Jozef Stefan Institute (JSI) and HIDROQUIMIA.