Wastewater Reuse Research by Scottish Water

A Pilot Project to Test a New Recycling Technology for Waste Water Has Been Completed at Dunbar and Aviemore Waste Water Treatment Works with Promising Results

Scottish Water has been testing whether value can be recovered from sewage while reducing maintenance and power costs.

George Ponton, Head of Innovation at Scottish Water, said: "In a nutshell, this new technology is a very fine filter that captures all the cellulose and some of the fats, oils and grease coming into the waste water treatment works. The solids are then pasteurised producing a pellet material called Recyllose.

"These pellets could then be used as a raw material in paper, plastic, construction, energy and other industries.

"This can substantially reduce the amount of sewage sludge produced; which is good news as we can run the plant using less power, reduce sludge tankering frequency and cut down the plant maintenance requirements as a result of less solids getting through.

"It also reduces our carbon footprint and emissions by using less power and resources, and increases the lifespan of the equipment we use to treat waste water. Overall the addition of the process could reduce operating costs between 20% and 30%, and we can pass any potential savings on to our customers by keeping their water and waste water charges low.

"By creating less sludge, we also don't have to send as much of it to be processed at our sludge treatment centre in Edinburgh. Sludge is a by-product of the waste water treatment process and is treated under extremely strict regulations. In many cases the end product of this treatment is a recyclable soil nutrient."

Source: Scottish Water

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• Treatment
• Water Reuse & Recycling
• Water Distillation