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Unique selling points

Produces irrigation water on-site where the demand exists
Has small footprint, fits into a container, can be used in dense urban environments
Demonstrates high replication potential
Enhances resilience of cities to climate change especially for arid urban environments such as cities in the Med

Description of the technology

Sewer Mining is a treatment plant in a container in which:

extracts wastewater from local sewers that run under every location of a city
treats it directly on site in a distributed system
produces high quality water (at the point of demand) suitable for irrigation of green areas, groundwater recharge and other urban uses.

The Sewer Mining unit consists of a membrane bioreactor unit (MBR) and a UV disinfection unit. The unit is integrated in a container of limited dimensions and the treatment is performed locally, where the demand exists.

The main idea of this technology is that a resource (wastewater) that lies beneath every part of a city is used to produce clean water and reduce pressures due to water scarcity.

The capacity of the technology is from pilot to industrial scale. In NextGen the capacity is 25m 3 /day.

Sewer Mining technology is a distributed, flexible and autonomous circular economy solution.

Flow scheme of the technology

Pictures

Sewer Mining technology tanks used in NextGen project

Sewer mining facilities used in NextGen project

Synergetic effects and motivation for the implementation of the technology

Production of reclaimed water from sewer in the point of use, minimizing the costs of distribution.
Proven to be stable in operation and efficient in terms of treatment
Produces high quality water rich in nutrients (N,P) with a positive effect on plants and biodiversity of the local ecosystem
Reduces wastewater flows, transport costs and drinking water demand, protecting the natural resources

Technology requirements and operating conditions

The following table summarize the most appropriated values of several parameters to take into account during the MBR operation.

Parameter	Units	Min	Max	Average	Reference
COD	mg O₂/L	330	490	410	Plevri et al., 2021 Chon, KyongShon and Cho, 2012 Dialynas and Diamadopoulos, 2009 Yang, Shang and Wang, 2009
BOD	mg O₂/L	140	210	175
TSS	mg/L	150	220	183
TN	mg/L	124	200	164
TP	mg/L	9.6	10.9	10.3

Key performance indicators

Parameter	Units	Min	Max	Reference	Legislation Limits
COD in the MBR effluent	mg O₂/L	13	32	NextGen, D1.2	-
BOD in the MBR effluent	mg O₂/L	1	2.5	NextGen, D1.2	≤10 ppm for 80% of samples
TSS in the MBR effluent	mg/L	Detection Limit	Detection Limit (2)	NextGen, D1.2	≤2 ppm for 80% of samples
Turbidity in the MBR effluent	NTU	0.1	2.0	NextGen, D1.2
N-NH₄⁺ in the MBR effluent	mg/L	60	85	NextGen, D1.2
Total P in the MBR effluent	ppm	5.0	7.0	NextGen, D1.2
Energy consumption	KW	15	17	NextGen, D1.2
Sludge generated	L	700	1000	NextGen, D1.2

Links to related topics and similar reference projects

MBR treatment	Medium	Reference
NextGen	Water	Case study “Athens” (NextGen)

biotech Technology

Sewer mining