What is the value of Industrial Water?

At the end of November SusChem and the European Water Technology Platform (WssTP) joined forces to present ‘The Value of Industry Water’ at Dechema’s Industrial Water 2018 conference in Frankfurt. The conference was attended by around 150 participants, mostly from Europe but with international representations from China, India, South America and the US, all active and interested in Industry Water Innovation. The conference was supported by SusChem, WssTP and SPIRE.

Water is essential for life. As the world’s population grows and the effects of climate change become apparent the demand for water will increase. And too many people around the world still do not have access to clean water or adequate sanitation. The Industrial Water 2018 conference on 27-29 November sought to highlight today's challenges in industrial water management and discuss the new strategies, developments and technologies that can make industrial water use more efficient.

The Industrial Water conference and exhibition is a biennial platform that addresses all relevant topics along the industrial water value chains: from raw water to waste water treatment; from sensors to digitisation in industrial water management; from alternative water resources to zero liquid discharge and integrated management.

The contribution from SusChem and WssTP was presented by Henk Pool from Cefic during the Digitalisation in Industrial Water Management session of the conference on the morning of 28 November.

Multiple waters
The paper, jointly authored with Durk Krol and Andrea Rubini from WssTP, was entitled ‘The Value of Industry Water: Integrated multiple waters, Digitally Connected and Smartly Managed’ and focused on the new ‘Multiple Waters’ Governance model and how Digital Waters enable a totally different, bottom-up and multi-stakeholder approach.

The basis for the paper stems from joint workshops organised by SusChem and WssTP to identify critical innovations in the context of an Industry Water transition from Single Use to Integrated Management.

The concept of Multiple Waters entails the employment of different water sources and qualities (such as fresh ground and surface water, rainwater, brackish water, saline water, brines, grey water, black water, recycled water) for various purposes by multiple users. The Multiple Waters concept targets the right water for the right purpose to the right users in a synergetic combination of centralised and decentralised water treatment. Water use can then be optimised based on the circularity principle for water such as cascading, reuse or recycling, while enacting new economic mechanisms and models based on the true value of water.

Value drives innovation
Considering Industrial Water management and the true Value of Water leads to the identification of industry innovation needs, which are driven by four factors:

1. Sensor Networks: Sensor development provides a unique opportunity for enhancing the Value of Water. Advanced sensor development is required to ensure continuous understanding and control of water quality. Handling of dynamic water systems requires advanced sensors. Full implementation, reliable operation costs and maintenance are important considerations.

2. Big Data: Identifying the Value of Water system in terms of the data that it generates and creates is central to its economic value. The creation of a resilient basis for cyber security and privacy legislation is necessary, as no holistic overview currently exists in the sector. Links between data silos and pockets of data should be established and prioritised.

3. Modelling and Analysis: Many models for enhancing water management exist in academia or within other research organisations. However, these methodologies need to be brought into context before moving to the next (pilot) phase. It is necessary to identify models and tailor them to the requirements of users in order to develop more efficient water systems while observing the interactions and implications.

4. Smart Governance: Smart governance models vary from region to region. The selection process for an appropriate governance design requires extensive consideration. Education and communication are crucial for its successful understanding and implementation.

The presentation addressed the above factors in detail and built connections between them.

“A balanced combination of innovation across all the factors will enhance the true Value of Water and therefore drive the industry water transition from single use to integrated management,” Henk Pool concluded.

Water efficiency
On 30 November an additional workshop on increasing water and energy efficiency in process industry took place looking at relevant tools, technologies and concepts. The workshop was jointly organised by the EU-funded Horizon 2020 projects WaterWatt and INSPIREWATER – a SPIRE project. The workshop included a number of case studies from the steel and the chemical industry regarding water and energy efficiency measures. Participants were also introduced to the recently developed online tool for evaluating energy efficiency (E3 Platform) and got the opportunity to test the tool during the workshop.

KETs Impact: Creating a paradigm shift in water treatment in the chemical industry

The recent SusChem White paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’ included a number of success stories highlighting publicly funded innovation involving KETs and the SusChem News blog is featuring a selection of these fruitful 'SusChem inspired' initiatives.

KETs are technologies selected for their ability to address global challenges, support the development of new products, and stimulate economic growth.

Sustainable chemistry is essential to the technological advance of KETs including advanced materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, industrial biotechnology, micro and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology and photonics. SusChem's key enabling technologies provide the critical building blocks for the solutions needed to achieve a sustainable low carbon circular economy. You can find out more here.

Our fourth success story involves the E4Water: a FP7 project that SusChem and the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WssTP) were directly involved with. The chemical industry provides the highest potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management and the project addressed crucial process industry needs, to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to enable integrated and energy efficient water management. The main objective was to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in the chemical industry that could also be adopted in other major industrial sectors.

Water fit-for-purpose management

Economically and ecologically efficiency in the European Chemical Industry

Public funding brought an Innovation Ecosystem together to take on a significant challenge to develop and demonstrate eco-efficient industry water management

Water is a scarce resource and a key element for the development of our society and economy. The chemical industry, as a water user and solution provider of innovative products, technologies and services, offers significant potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management. To deal with critical challenges, such as the need to reduce water use, wastewater production and energy use, an EU FP7 funded project applied new research and development concepts to boost eco-efficiency and sustainability. E4Water has addressed a wide range of aspects relevant for an efficient integrated industrial water management in practice. Developments provided and demonstrated in the six case studies comprise: utilisation of alternative water sources; treatment of organic and inorganic wastewater streams and concentrates; recovery of valuables and energy from wastewater; linking process water and cooling water networks; combining different scales in water management (process – plant – site – local – regional); introducing tools to optimise water management; Life Cycle Assessment of selected measures; considering regulatory framework aspects. The success of the E4Water project has shown what is possible in the chemical and related process industry sectors in terms of ‘fit for purpose’ water management effectively decoupling industrial production from the use of fresh water, other natural resources and energy. The outcome of E4Water strengthens both, the leadership of the European Water Technology Industry and of position of the European Process Industries.

How was the breakthrough innovation achieved?

The E4Water project did create a complementing consortium with partners from nine EU countries: large chemical enterprises, leading European water sector companies, innovative research and technological development (RTD) centres and universities active in the area of water management. The European Technology Platform for Water (WssTP), the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem), the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA), the SPIRE Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and water authorities were also linked through their members in the project. 

Impact

• Economic impact: Significant economic benefit can be gained, for example, operating expenditure (OPEX) was reduced by up to 30% for every m3 of saved freshwater/year (depending on local conditions); or eliminating the need for incineration (e.g. 5 000 tonnes/annum/plant) together with establishing a business case, leading to revenue generation.
• Environmental impact: 

1. Reduced fresh water uptake of 40-80% resulting in freshwater savings of ~3 million m³/year in one case. 
2. Reduced wastewater production of 30-80%, with close to 100% (loop closure) in one case and resulting in reduction of waste water production by ~2.5 million m3/year in another case. 
3. Resource recovery, efficiently extracting resources from water and returning these to the prime process or a local increase in resource efficiency by use of algae. 
4. Reduced energy use of up to 20% by using low energy technology, heat recovery, or optimising the integrated process with the use of improved modelling.

• Social impact: Water is a key to resource efficiency, climate action and other major societal challenges: Efficient water management is also essential to enhancing resource efficiency, improving energy efficiency and thereby tackling climate change and ensuring the continuing supply of raw materials. The results are also key to implementing process intensification concepts that will form the basis of the chemical and process plants of the future. The E4Water resulted in strengthening the competitive position for Europe's process industry and water industry and keeping Europe an attractive location for industry.

More information
E4Water - Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry (FP7 GA 280756)

Read the SusChem White Paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’

INSPIREWATER: Making Every Drop Count

The SPIRE Horizon 2020 project INSPIREWATER is working to enable process industry companies to implement sustainable water treatment solutions as part of a corporate sustainability strategy. This will be achieved via the development, demonstration and exploitation of innovative, eco-efficient technologies that support sustainable water resources management. The overall goal of the project is to reduce wastewater so that there is zero discharge into the environment and to re-use the treated wastewater.

While 70 % of the earth’s surface is covered in water, less than 1 % is freshwater available for use.  With growing pressures on this finite natural resource, there’s a critical need for more innovative water management solutions.

Water is one of SusChem's innovation priority areas and the platform supports industry involvement in a portfolio of EU funded projects working to improve water and wastewater management including those managed by SPIRE as an entity nurtured and established through SusChem actions. 

In Tarragona, Spain, a region that’s faced a critical water shortage, chemical company Clariant is part of an innovative project to test out sustainable wastewater solutions that can eventually be applied to sectors across the globe. The INSPIREWATER (Innovative Solutions in the Process Industry for next generation Resource Efficient Water management) project brings together eleven industrial and scientific partners working in sectors such as steel and paper. Their goal for 2025 is to reduce current freshwater consumption by 35 % and wastewater emissions by 40 %.

INSPIREWATER technologies aim to increase water and resource efficiency by 20-30 % across the process industry. The project will focus initially on the steel and chemical industries, with the long-term goal of applying the technologies throughout process industry sectors for maximum impact.

The project includes partners representing the steel and chemical industries, technology and innovation SME’s, research organisations and dissemination and exploitation experts. The collaboration of these partners forms an exceptional team to deliver quality innovation and striking impact in the process industry. The emphasis on deployment and impact within the project reflects the target set by SPIRE's research and innovation strategy, the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on ‘Water’ and the EU Commission’s Roadmap on Resource efficiency. In addition, the project will implement European directives and policies in Water Management.

New Tech in an Ancient Port

In recent years, the ancient port city of Tarragona and its surrounding province have dealt with water scarcity issues due to declining summer rainfalls and increased water demand from industry and tourism. The region is also home to a cluster of chemical companies including Clariant’s speciality chemicals facility.

As the representative of the chemical industry within INSPIREWATER, Clariant’s Tarragona site is testing out an innovative multi-membrane technology for waste water treatment demonstrated as an “end-of-pipe” solution, which filters contaminants from water before it can be recycled or reintroduced into the environment. Under current methods, wastewater is purified using “reverse osmosis,” a process that requires hydraulic pressure and energy inputs. The multi-membrane technology currently being tested combines the standard osmosis process with a variety of energy-efficient technologies, so that wastewater can more efficiently pass through membranes to be purified.

Other technologies being piloted by INSPIREWATER will help conserve water across the production life cycle. The end goal is to reduce wastewater so that there is zero discharge into the environment and to re-use the treated wastewater. “To Clariant, the best wastewater is wastewater that barely exists,” says Friedhelm Zorn, Head of Competence Centre Environmental Technologies at Clariant.

Catalyst technology

Within the INSPIREWATER project there are three innovative technologies for sustainable water treatment being developed and tested. One is catalyst technology being developed by MOL Katalysatortechnik GmbH.

The MOL®LIK Catalyst reduces chemical dosage, minimises maintenance, optimises energy demand and saves money. The technology is being evaluated as part of the large-scale demonstration at Clariant.

Join the SusChem and WssTP Workshop in Porto!

SusChem and the European Water Technology Platform, WssTP, in collaboration with the EIP Water, are jointly organising a pre-conference workshop ‘Industry Water: From Single Use to Integrated Management' that will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 26 September 2017 in Porto, Portugal just prior to the The EIP Water Conference.

The workshop builds on an earlier workshop organised in Brussels on 20 April 2017 and will prepare specific messages to deliver to the audiences attending the EIP Water Conference in Porto that takes place on 27 and 28 September 2017.

These messages relate to the reuse of industrial water reuse as highlighted, for example, at the WssTP Water Innovation Europe 2017 event and are built from the four pillars of the WssTP’s Value of Water model: Sensors, Big Data, Analysis and Modelling, and Governance.

Workshop outcomes

The Brussel’s workshop produces a range of recommendations and conclusions on these four aspects:

• Sensor Networks - Sensor development provides a unique opportunity for enhancing the Value of Water. Advanced sensor development is required to ensure continuous understanding and control of water quality. Handling of dynamic water systems requires advanced sensors. Full implementation, reliable operation costs and maintenance are important.
• Big Data - Identifying the value of the water system in generating and creating data is central to its economic value. The creation of a resilient basis for cyber security and privacy legislation is necessary, as no holistic overview currently exists. Links between data silos and pockets of data should be established and prioritised.  
• Modelling and Analysis - Many models for enhancing water management exist in academia or within RTOs. But these methodologies need to be brought into context before moving to the next pilot phase. It is necessary to identify models and tailor them to the requirements of users in order to develop more efficient  water systems, while observing the interactions and implications.   
• Smart Governance - Smart governance models vary from region to region. The selection process for an appropriate governance design requires extensive consideration. Education and communication is crucial for its successful understanding and implementation.

The Porto workshop will further examine outcomes via four parallel breakout sessions covering the above topics that will include introductory presentations, moderated discussions, collection of ideas, and building of key messages.

The outcomes of the four sessions will be collated and conclusions and key messages for EIP Water conference formulated.

Workshop details

The workshop will take place on Tuesday 26 September 2017 from 14:00 to 18:00 and participation is free of charge, however prior registration is compulsory. You can register for the workshop via this online form.

Please note this registration is valid for the pre-conference workshop only, it will not allow attendance at the EIP Conference itself.

You will have to register separately for the Fourth EIP Water conference Water Innovation: Bridging Gaps, Creating Opportunities’ part of ‘Porto Water Innovation Week 2017’.

For more information on the workshop, please contact either Andrea Rubini at WssTP or Henk Pool at SusChem.

Industry Water: From Single Use to Integrated Management

The European Water Platform (WssTP) and SusChem are jointly organising a workshop on ‘Industry Water: From Single Use to Integrated Management’ that will take place on Thursday 20 April 2017 at the BluePoint Centre (formerly known as the Diamant Centre) in Brussels.

The workshop will gather perspectives and viewpoints on the water reuse domain and will feature contributions from the European Commission, the ‘problem owners’ and ‘solution providers’ involved in the water and related sectors, and a final insight on the holistic and systemic structure (Smart Governance and Digital Water) which can address the challenges for discovering and exploiting the true Value of Water: multiple waters, digitally connected and smartly managed.

Tangible outputs from the workshop will be produced through a final breakout parallel session that will develop and propose content, gaps, strengths and needs of the four pillars of the Value of Water concept:

• Modelling and Analysis
• Big Data
• Smart Governance
• Sensor Networks

The final session will build an action plan to deliver the outcomes of the workshop to the Fourth EIP Water Conference that takes place in the city of Porto during the week of 25 September.

You can download the agenda for the workshop here and registration can be found here.

E4Water report demonstrates EU Chemical Industry's water eco-efficiency

Today (18 October 2016), the results of the 'SusChem inspired' E4Water project - a ground-breaking water sustainability initiative - were presented by Cefic during a joint task force meeting with the European Commission in Madrid. The project, which was sponsored jointly by the European Commission under the FP7 Research Framework programme and industry stakeholders, produced real-world outcomes in industrial contexts where companies used less energy, less freshwater, and produced less waste water.

Designed to give a major boost to the water efficiency of the European chemical industry, the E4Water project aimed to demonstrate the benefits of integrated, cost and energy efficient water management. Including 19 partners across nine EU countries, and with six pilot sites the total project investment was € 19 million and the project ran from 2012 to 2016.

“Although the European chemical industry is a standard-bearer for eco-friendly measures like cutting greenhouse gas and increasing energy efficiency, this project identifies important new potential for increased water efficiency. This not only helps safeguard the planet by saving water and energy but also costs for industry”, said William Garcia, Cefic Executive Director. “We hope to see the model this project demonstrates scaled up in other industries to make important gains for the climate.”

Pilot examples
Six pilot cases were conducted to demonstrate what is possible if the recommendations from this project are taken up by other industry stakeholders and integrated into their processes. The potential benefits shown in the pilot studies included:

• Reduction of 3 million m3 of freshwater per year
• Reduction of 2.5 million m3 of produced wastewater per year
• Reduced wastewater discharge by 4 million m3 per year
• Reduced resource use through more efficient processes
• 20% less energy used by implementing low energy technology
• A drop in operating expenditure of 30% for every m3 of saved freshwater/year
• Eliminating need for incineration (5,000 tonnes/annum/plant)

More information on the project and its outcomes can be found in the E4Water brochure with a more detailed report available on the project's website.

Water efficiency is a huge part of tackling climate change. The EU chemical industry – Europe’s fifth largest manufacturing sector – relies on water for many industrial processes. For example, processing, washing, heating, cooling and transporting products. To cut the amount of water required for these processes, the E4 Water project applied new research and development concepts to boost its eco-efficiency and sustainability.

Background
The ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) project addressed crucial process industry needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers for an integrated and energy efficient water management. The main objective was to enable more efficient and sustainable management of water in chemical industry sector and identify possibilities to share the models developed with other industrial sectors.

The E4Water project consortium united large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and innovative RTD centres and universities active in the area of water management with and collaborators from national and regional water authorities. The project received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

'SusChem Inspired' Project Package Published

CORDIS (the Community Research and Development Information Service) has just published a package of 13 summaries of “SusChem-inspired” FP7 projects. The projects cover a range of subjects within the overall theme of ‘Energy efficient process industries: Furthering Europe’s ambitious environmental targets’. Greater energy efficiency in Europe’s process industries contributes to Europe’s long-term competitiveness and helps to meet highly ambitious environmental objectives.

Over 450 000 enterprises and around 6.8 million jobs are dependent on Europe’s process sector, which includes chemicals, engineering, minerals and ore, non-ferrous metals, steel and water. The process industries, which generate more than EUR 1.6 billion in annual turnover and represent 20% of the EU’s total industrial production, are absolutely vital to Europe’s economy and long-term industrial competitiveness.

However, these vital industries have to face the key challenge of reducing their high dependency on resources. Although energy efficiency in industry across the EU has gradually improved (by an average of 1.8% per year up until 2009), there is still much work to do to encourage the uptake of cleaner technologies, more efficient methods and better industrial procedures to reduce environmental impact.

Achieving a better environmental footprint for the process industries is now even more pressing due to the EU’s target to cut its emissions to at least 40% of 1990 levels as a part of its comprehensive 2030 climate and energy framework. In April 2016, the EU also formally signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP21), formally committing the Union to fully embracing the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The CORDIS Results Pack showcases some SusChem-inspired and EU-funded projects that have taken up the challenge of developing the novel methods and enabling technologies that will increase energy efficiency in industrial processes.

Project examples

Examples include the implementation of more sustainable and less-resource dependent manufacturing methods, the design and optimisation of new and accurate computational frameworks and software, and the cultivation of better international cooperation.

The full list of projects described in the package is:

• MORE developed new tools to help large plants achieve resource efficiencies including new resource efficiency indicators and software that can be easily integrated into large processing plants in order to achieve optimal daily performance.
• TOP-REF worked on novel resource indicators and tools for competitive and sustainable continuous processing that will lead to the substantial improvement of resource efficiency in energy intensive industrial processes within the agro-chemical, chemical and petrochemical industries.
• MAPSYN researched new techniques to energise the EU chemical industry through new energy sources and catalysts that can achieve cost efficient, high yield chemical production and boost competitiveness.
• CYCLICCO2 was one of the first project to investigate conversion of carbon dioxide into commercially viable chemicals in a sustainable way that could be scaled-up for energy efficient industrial use.
• ALTEREGO helped to ‘green-up’ the chemical industry with efficient alternative energy sources including ultrasound, microwave and non-thermal plasma technologies to power chemical processes, replacing fossil fuels and achieving higher levels of energy efficiency.
• R4R used stronger regional cooperation to drive innovation in energy and resource efficiency forward in Europe’s chemical and processing industries.
• InnoREX looked to accelerate the production of ‘green’ biobased plastic polymers in an environmentally-friendly, energy efficient and commercially viable process. 
• COOPOL produced new monitoring tools for more efficient polymer processing in the chemicals sector that will improve polymerisation reaction quality and provide new continuous production methods.
• E4WATER helped to cut water use in the European chemical industry by creating novel systems and processes and make the European chemical sector more competitive.
• OPTICO developed an adaptive and integrated computational framework for intensified processes in the chemical and biochemical industries consisting of multi-scale, multi-phase phenomena-based modelling technologies, and advanced process analytical tools.

Indo-European Water Partnership to highlight Opportunities 7 March

As part of the Indo-European Water Partnership, the Indian Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the European Union are organising a meeting with EU businesses in New Delhi on 7 March 2016. The meeting takes place at 14h00 local time (09h30 Central European Time) in New Dehli at the Lalit New Delhi hotel and will be relayed via a video conference to enable wider participation by EU businesses.

The meeting will be attended by Shri Shashi Shekhar, Indian Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the EU’s Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski.

The meeting will examine a number of key water challenges for which the Government of India is seeking solutions. These include:

• Municipal Sewage 
• Industrial Effluents – in particular for Tanneries, Pulp and Paper, Distilleries and Textiles sectors 
• Water Quality Monitoring (WQM) for Industrial effluent monitoring (on discharge) and River Health (Over 113 WQM sites are to be established along the river Ganga)
• Geographical Information System (GIS) based Ganga river basin mapping 
• Micro-irrigation 

More information
More information on the event can be found here and you can register here.

Registration for the meeting and the video conference is free and will require provision of additional optional information for dissemination at the meeting and/or via the EIP Water website and the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) portal. If you have any comments or questions they should be sent to the Support facility to the Indo-European Water Partnership by 4 March 2016 at the latest.

Integrated Industrial Water Management: Solutions for Practice

The SusChem-inspired FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) is holding its final conference on ‘Integrated Industrial Water Management: Solutions for Practice’ on 19 and 20 April 2016 at the offices of the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU in Brussels.

Water is a key pan-European concern for industry. Despite the vast amount of water on the planet scarce fresh water resources and water stress of aquatic ecosystems are current critical issues in Europe and the world and are the result of a myriad of interacting environmental, political, economic, and social forces. Europe is confronted with urgent challenges related to water: adapting to climate change, including mitigation of floods and droughts risks, achieving good quality of surface water, ensuring adequate availability of water to deliver multiple benefits to nature and to the economy.

The chemical industry is both a major water user and a key solution provider to the sector. It offers significant potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management in its own sector and also in other industrial sectors.

The conference “Integrated Industrial Water Management: Solutions for Practice” presents new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in the chemical industry with cross-fertilization potential to other industrial sectors. The conference programme can be downloaded here.

The event will focus on the results obtained during the E4Water project in terms of best practise for water management and how this can provide challenges and opportunities for the chemical sector from the six case studies that form the core of the E4Water effort. Presentations will include:

• Innovative materials, process technologies, tools and methodologies for an integrated water management.
• Open innovation approaches for testing innovative developments with respect to other industries.
• Industrial case studies, representing critical challenges for the chemical industry and other process industries.
• Implementation of improved tools for process efficiency optimisation, linking water processes with production processes- and eco-efficiency assessment.

The above examples were all developed and demonstrated in the E4Water project. In addition to multiple exciting presentations related to E4Water developments, keynote presentations will give insights on industry needs and water related strategies and on European Commission activities and strategies. A get together and poster party will give participants the opportunity to discuss E4Water results and to present their own work related to integrated industrial water management. You can download the Call for Posters template document here.

Registration for the conference is open now and is free of charge.

What is E4Water?
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilisation with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

Save the date: E4Water Final Conference

The SusChem-inspired FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) will be holding its final conference on ‘Integrated Industrial Water Management: Solutions for Practise’ on 19 and 20 April 2016 at the offices of the Representation of the State of Hessen to the EU in Brussels.

The event will focus on the results obtained during the E4Water project in terms of best practise for industrial water management and how this can provide challenges and opportunities for the chemical sector in particular the lessons learnt from the six case studies that form the core of the E4Water activities. Registration will open soon and the event will be free of charge. 

A full programme for the conference will be available soon. To catch up with the latest news from the E4Water project download their latest newsletter.

What is E4Water?

With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilisation with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

The Economic Benefits of Water Innovation

The SusChem-inspired FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) will be holding a workshop on the Economic benefits of Water Innovation on Thursday 5 November 2015 at the offices of the State of Hessen Representation to the EU at 21 Rue Montoyer, Brussels. The event will focus on the topical issue of the economic challenges and opportunities for the chemical sectors when looking at water innovation solutions (such as water reuse and recycling). With the E4Water project now nearing its end, some of the main experiences and results gathered by the project will be presented.  The event is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. Registration is now open.

The workshop will take place from 10h00 to 16h30, at the offices of the Representation to the EU of the State of Hessen at 21 Rue Montoyer, 1000 Brussels. Note this is a change to the venue originally announced on this blog. A full programme for the day can be accessed here.

Among the confirmed speakers are:

• Panos Balabanis, Deputy Head of Unit 'Eco-innovation', DG RTD
• Edouard Perard, European Investment Bank
• Thomas Track, Dechema, Project Coordinator E4Water
• Marianne Wenning, EU Commission, DG Environment, Director "Quality of Life, Water and Air"
• Dirk Van der Stede, Flanders Knowledge Center Water, Vlakwa
• 
  
• Uwe Fortkamp, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
• Peter Cauwenberg, Vito
• Riikka Timonen, Kemira
• Alexandre Muller, Total
• Eddy Linclau, P&G
• Luc Brams, Agfa

Water is an important natural resource on the planet, playing a big role in our sustainability effort. At the corporate level, the value of water is increasingly recognised as a natural resource to be shared between many users.

Cefic’s "The Water Matters!" flagship initiative focuses on water use at operating sites, with particular regard to “water stressed” areas. The main objectives of the initiative are to further support corporate efforts towards sustainable water management and to raise awareness on the importance of water risk assessment and mitigation within the chemical sector.

What is E4Water?
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilisation with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

E4Water on Euronews

The SusChem inspired FP7 project E4Water is featured in the latest Euronews video on its science and technology channel ‘Futuris’. The new video (see below) features one of E4Water’s successful case study demonstration plants in the Netherlands. And keeping with news on water innovation the latest EIP Water newsletter has just been published – more details below.

Producing chemicals and plastics requires a lot of fresh water to cool down industrial processes, and this water is not always readily available. Euronews reporter Denis Loctier visited a Dow Benelux plastics plant on the southern coast of the Netherlands. This seaside plant cannot pump water from the ground: it must buy it from a supplier located dozens of kilometres away, uses it once and then pours it out into the sea.

Salty or dirty water can damage installations, and for now it is cheaper for companies to buy fresh water than to recycle it. But a European research project - "E4Water (Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry)" - wants to change all that.



About E4Water
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilisation with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

Latest EIP Water newsletter out

The May 2015 edition of the EIP Water newsletter is out. The e-publication reports on the World Water Forum 7 in South Korea during which new analyses and perspectives on global water challenges and markets were published. In Europe, the Horizon 2020 water call closed on 21 April having received 915 applications showing increasing interest in innovation in the water sector.

Within the partnerships, EIP Water has been appointed to the Water JPI Stakeholder’s Advisory Group (SAG) and the Water JPI is currently holding a consultation on its Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, which will provide valuable input for the SAG’s next meeting in early June. If you want to participate in the consultation the deadline for input is 24 May.

Finally the next EIP Water Conference will be held in February 2016 and five hosting proposals have been received from across Europe. A decision on the venue will be made by mid-June at the latest.

Save the date: Economic benefits of Water Innovation workshop

The SusChem-inspired FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) will be holding a workshop on the Economic benefits of water innovation, on the morning of 11 June 2015, at the Cefic offices in Brussels. The event will focus on the topical issue of water management, and how this can provide challenges and opportunities for the chemical sector. Registration will open soon and the event is free of charge. 

The workshop will take place from 10h30 to 16h30, at the Cefic offices at Avenue E. van Nieuwenhuyse 4, 1160 Brussels. A full programme for the day will be published soon. Among the confirmed speakers are:

• Pavel Misiga, Head of Water Unit, DG Environment
• Andrew Farmer, Institute for European Environmental Policy 
• Uwe Fortkamp, IVL Svenska Miljöinstitutet
• Peter Cauwenberg, Vito
• Riikka Timonen, Kemira
• Niels Groot, Dow

What is E4Water?
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilisation with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

SusChem at Malta Water Week!

On 25 March Antonia Morales Perez, Cefic innovation manager responsible for leading SusChem's contribution to the European Innovation Partnerships on Water and on Raw Materials took part in the Malta Water Week Conference where she presented the latest solutions that the chemical industry has to offer towards industrial symbiosis and in particular sustainable water management. The event happened just after World Water Day (22 March). 

SusChem supports water conservation, recycling and re-use as an innovation priority and water is featured in the new SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA). Water is a scarce resource and a critical element for the development of our society and economy. The chemical industry is a significant user of water, but also an important solution provider of innovative products, technologies and services which can enable more sustainable water and wastewater management.

Fit-for-purpose
Water symbiosis and delivery of ‘fit-for-purpose’ water flows are considered as key elements to ensure and enable optimal and integrated (re)use of water, not only for the chemical industry but for other sectors as well. Antonia's presentation to the conference focused on results coming out of the FP7 project E4Water in which SusChem participates. This includes six industry case studies that are developing new approaches to solve different challenges in water reuse and recycling to achieve a final goal of integration of the industrial-urban and agricultural sectors.

The conference kicked-off with a video message from Karmenu Vella, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Malta Water Week takes the heart of the Mediterranean as its starting point, using a public-private focus to generate business, collaborations and partnerships looking at innovation in water management solutions, technology and practices. In particular, the conference will be addressing a variety of themes with a focus on best practices and innovative solutions to water challenges, highlighting examples and lessons among others, including:

• Smart Water Infrastructures
• Innovative Water Technologies
• Water Reuse
• Water Education
• Innovative Financial Solutions

What is Malta Water Week?
Malta Water Week is a leading Mediterranean water event featuring a number of activities centred around innovation in water-management solutions and technology, novel financing ideas in water, expert intervention, the bringing together of international businesses and investors, and the sharing of best practices amongst all participating entities while showcasing the opportunities brought forth by current and future challenges in water.

Malta Water Week is organised by Paragon Europe within the margins of the Water Efficiency in European Urban Areas project. The project is based on the ambition to create an open European platform for EU excellence in water efficiency in urban water management. This platform will enable participating clusters and regions to bring together knowledge and innovation potential through collaboration and mutually learning on a trans-national basis.

For more information about SusChem’s contribution to Malta Water Week, please contact Antonia Morales Perez.

E4Water study wins at 2014 European Responsible Care Awards

The ‘Saving water through symbiosis’ initiative led by Solvay SA has won the 2014 Responsible Care Environment Award organised by Cefic. The initiative is part of the SusChem-inspired ‘E4-water’ FP7 project, which aims to save large volumes of potable water and virtually eliminate discharges of salt and liquid waste. Solvay’s contribution is based on three units installed at their site within the Port of Antwerp Chemical Cluster. The first two units are already fully operational and are currently saving the company 33 cubic metres of water every hour. 

The first unit involves recycling of wastewater through ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes to produce demineralised water that can be used in Solvay’s chemical processes. The second unit can produce this demineralised water from brackish surface water, pumped up from the river and harbour near the plant. Both modules are possible thanks to support from two other companies, Evides Industriewater and Vito nv.

The third module capitalises on the previous two. The aim is to treat an external company’s salted waste water and use the resulting purified water and salt concentrate in Solvay’s manufacturing processes. In this way, the external partner avoids effluent production and Solvay gains additional water savings of 20 cubic metres per hour.

Besides saving water, the project serves as an industrial ‘experimental garden’. Companies are motivated to work symbiotically, and experiments and demonstrations are carried out for external users.

In awarding the prize to the E4Water case study the judges commented: “Water is a key issue for the chemical sector and the Solvay entry is a very good, up-to date project which offers another fine example of industrial ecology.”

Responsible Care® is the global chemical industry’s unique initiative to improve health, environmental performance, enhance security, and to communicate with stakeholders about products and processes.

About E4Water
The chemical industry provides the highest potential for increasing eco-efficiency in industrial water management. The Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry (E4Water) FP7 project addresses crucial process industry needs, to overcome bottlenecks and barriers for an integrated and energy efficient water management.

The main objective of the project is to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in chemical industry with cross-fertilization possibilities to other industrial sectors.

E4water unites in its consortium large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and authorities, innovative RTD centres and universities, the European Technology Platforms SusChem and WssTP.

E4Water aims to achieve an expected reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in wastewater production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% direct economic benefits at its industrial case study sites. E4Water builds on state-of-the-art and new basic R&D concepts. Their realization, improvement, utilization and validation, with the compromise of early industrial adaptors, are clearly innovative.

You can download the latest E4Water newsletter here.

E4Water Newsletter out!

The third E4Water newsletter has just been published. The newsletter covers news and events from this important FP7 project including progress and results from some of the six case studies that are at the heart of the project.

The first feature is on the case study at Dow Case Study where the pilot plant at their Terneuzen, The Netherlands site was successfully started and officially opened in November 2013. The E4Water project consortium will meet on site in April to discuss progress in the project and link this with learning gained through the pilot site.

The second feature is the SolVin case study where project partners are working on technologies for a treatment train concerning the loop closure in the PVC production plant at Martorell in Spain. Following development and optimization of technologies the first part of the pilot plant is already under preparation and planned to start soon.

The final case study featured involves the treatment and reuse of process wash water at affordable costs. The partners from this Procter & Gamble case study are working on the development of a technology train with several tests ongoing. Selected technologies need to be optimized before building up, starting and running a test pilot in a real plant. This is scheduled for the end of this year.

The newsletter can be downloaded from the E4Water website, which also gives further details on the project and on upcoming events related to Industrial Water Management.

What is E4Water?
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilization with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

Latest E4Water Newsletter out now!

With just over one-third of the project now past, the SusChem supported FP7 project E4Water has just published its second newsletter. The publication describes progress in the project’s quest to improve water management in the European chemical industry by making it economically and ecologically more efficient.

The newsletter focuses on a number of the project's participant organisations that are working hard on testing, optimisation and selection of the technologies needed for the next steps forward. The partners are bringing technologies towards pilot demonstration in new applications and new technology trains for a more sustainable industrial water management.

E4Water is a very applied project that gets strong input from both industry and research organisations to provide solutions for a more “eco-efficient” approach to industrial water management.

New facilities, new ideas
The newsletter's main feature is on the new facility for wastewater treatment at Kalundborg in Denmark, which was opened in early October, using microalgae in ten photobioreators to clean industrial residual waste streams that are rich in nutrients.

The publication profiles the Chemical Engineering Department at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) and its contribution to E4Water. Similar articles for the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), the Technical University of Delft and the Institute of Ecopreneurship (IEC) in the School of Life Science at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) follow.

The newsletter also covers E4Water's participation in a number of international events and lists significant upcoming events.

What is E4Water?
The E4Water project is a European Commission-funded FP7 project jointly developed by SusChem and the European Water Platform (WssTP). E4Water was launched in May 2012 and will continue for four years. The project is coordinated by Dechema. 

The E4Water project aims to develop, test and validate new integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies for a more efficient and sustainable management of water in the chemical industry (see schematic below). The results of the project will also be applicable to other industrial sectors.

E4Water unites in its consortium large chemical industries, leading European water sector companies and innovative RTD centres and universities active in the area of water management. E4Water aims to reduce water use by 20-40%, decrease waste water production by 30-70%, and cut energy use by 15-40% in the sector.

You can find out more about the E4Water project on their website. where you can also download the newsletter.