Pilot at Domžale-Kamnik plant combines four microplastic removal technologies into one multistage system
Four advanced microplastic removal technologies were tested at the Domžale-Kamnik wastewater plant within the EU project INSPIRE and can be integrated into existing infrastructure.
Results of testing four advanced technologies for removing microplastics from municipal wastewater were presented at the central wastewater treatment plant Domžale-Kamnik, dnevnik.si reports. The tests showed that the technologies can be connected into a single system and integrated into the plant's existing infrastructure dnevnik.si
dnevnik.sidnevnik.siOpen source ↗. The presentation was held as part of the European project INSPIRE.
INSPIRE brings together more than 20 partners, and its goal is to reduce the pollution of rivers with macro- and microplastics. The Domžale plant is one of the project's demonstration sites, where advanced processes for retaining and removing microplastics from treated municipal wastewater were tested.
Pilot results: a multistage solution
The four technologies were combined into an integrated multistage solution. According to the organizers, the results of the pilot testing confirmed that different processes can be successfully united into one system. Analyses of samples also showed a trend of decreasing microplastic concentrations along the individual treatment stages.
EU requirements and the path to practice
An important part of the event was devoted to future requirements of European legislation. The revised EU directive on municipal wastewater treatment provides that after 2030 large treatment plants will have to gradually introduce a fourth treatment stage, intended for removing certain micropollutants dnevnik.si
dnevnik.sidnevnik.siOpen source ↗.
Introducing additional processes will be a significant investment and operational challenge for plant operators. At the same time, it is expected to stimulate the development of new technologies for more effective protection of aquatic ecosystems.
The demonstration day, titled From Innovation to Implementation, brought together researchers, technology developers, plant operators, and representatives of industry and public institutions. They discussed mainly how to transfer research solutions into practice so that they are technologically feasible, environmentally effective and economically justified.
