Transforming the energy balance of wastewater treatment

Transforming the energy balance of wastewater treatment

Led by: Thames Water

Partners: Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, University of South Wales, South West Water, United Utilities, Scottish Water, Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent, Irish Water

See project updates on the Thames Water website.

This initiative been awarded more than £6 million to decarbonise wastewater treatment – reducing nitrogen oxide emissions and recovering beneficial resources including phosphorus and nitrogen. The water industry consumes between two and three per cent of electricity produced in the UK and around 55 per cent of this – the equivalent of powering over 1.2 million homes – is linked to the processing of wastewater. The project is developing solutions that would reduce the energy required for wastewater treatment.

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Update from the project (January 2025)

Thames Water plans to commission their anaerobic pilot plant in January 2025, following on with testing for organic removal and effluent degassing. The Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactor and Elovac vacuum degassing have already been installed and integrated with the equipment for the trial system, along with an array of sensors and a data logging system that allows monitoring the liquid and gas to understand the system’s performance. In the coming months, we will push the technological boundaries of wastewater treatment to transform the energy balance of wastewater treatment in the UK. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water have completed their trial on their anaerobic plant at Builth Wells, and the University of South Wales has completed the testing of adsorbents for the removal of ammonium and phosphate as well. All of the learnings from the research performed by Dwr Cymru Welsh and the University of South Wales have now been integrated into the plan for the Thames Water Pilot study and will support the project’s upcoming trials. Through our collaborative networks we will disseminate the findings to establish most significant design and operational parameters for the UK.  

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Resources

For more information on Transforming the energy balance of wastewater treatment, take a look at the following resources:

• Read the case study from December 2022
• Watch the below interview
• This project was featured in the Rethinking wastewater systems Learning Report