Water use and re-use

Water, water everywhere and soon it may even be possible to drink some of it! Two specific projects in which we are involved - one member-subscription-funded and one European project - are looking at water use and reuse. Anke Fendler is the Campden BRI project manager for both:

"The objective of the European Commissionfunded project is to develop, test and validate new approaches and technologies for water treatment and reuse of effluents in the chemical industry. This will be highly relevant to other sectors, such as the food industry. We are using a combination of waste water treatment and biocidal technologies to treat and recycle the highly concentrated wash water in a liquid detergent site. Campden BRI will be advising on the microbiological safety of water reuse by applying knowledge gained in the food industry.

Impact of disinfection methods

In a first step, the storage and re-entry requirements for the water to be reused have been defined, taking into account current food industry practice. Several biocidal technologies are now being tested for their effectiveness in reducing the number of microorganisms in a variety of detergent samples. The impact of the disinfection methods on the integrity of the products will also be evaluated.

In our member-funded project we are pursuing the use of non-potable water as a potential alternative to the use or reuse of precious potable water in certain circumstances. Again, the risks associated with using such water need to be assessed - with hygiene, and chemical and microbiological contamination issues being of particular concern."

Contact: Anke Fendler
+44(0)1386 842079
anke.fendler@campdenbri.co.uk