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Description
The worldwide population is facing limited available freshwater resources. Used water by humans, discharged as wastewater, must be treated to ensure its safe re-use. However, wastewater treatment plants are high-energy consumers, generate continuous waste with limited reuse, and surprisingly even significantly contribute to environmental pollution. The project comes to meet all these problems with a solution found in nature itself. By targeting priorities of the European Innovation Partnership on Water, the project uses one of the earliest life forms developed on earth: microalgae and their photosynthesis ability to clean wastewater with a significant decrease of the treatment expenditures, sanitation improvement, environment protection, and waste conversion to valuable resources which humans can take advantage for.
The project follows in-depth research on microalgae-based wastewater treatment for achieving even an increase in treatment performance. Microalgae cells are reached in nutrients and other useful compounds (oil, proteins) adding value to the resulted waste, the project activities aiming to enhance this value during the wastewater cleaning. Another followed key particularity is the technology preparation for operation in the real environmental conditions, following the impact study on the environment and research transfer to market.
By these goals, the project covers a wide audience, from operators of the small, individual, or large, central wastewater treatment systems, and water sector audience to the worldwide scientific community, and the general public alike. Besides bringing a successful solution for the human being, the project builds considerable experience, competencies, and the premises for a long-term cooperative partnership. The project represents a significant step forward in the addressed topic and on top of that, collaboration with Norwegian partners has a high influence on the enhancement of the Romanian research international visibility.