Salud México , México, Viernes, 21 de marzo de 2014 a las 09:07

Wastewater to be treated with bio additives

Researchers at the Tecnológico de Monterrey's Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean have received a CONACYT grant to conduct research on optimizing wastewater treatment processes by using enzymes and fungi

ITESM/DICYT In mainstream wastewater treatment, separating the sludge and the treated water is done by withdrawing less dense liquid from a solid or dense liquid, in a process known as decantation. However, very frequently the sludge does not have the necessary conditions to allow decanting, severely handicapping the effectiveness of a treatment plant's treatment process.

 

In order to optimize this process and intent on making the country's wastewater treatments sustainable, a group of Tecnológico de Monterrey Water Center for Latin America and the Caribbean researchers brought to the attention of CONACYT their "Assessment of bio additives (enzymes and fungi) on decantation and sludge dehydration" proposal.

 

The group is composed by Dr. Miguel Ángel López, Dr. Ana Catalina Avella, Dr. Liliana Reynoso, and Dr. Eunice Espinosa; by Environmental Systems Engineering graduate students Jorge Ramos and David Delgado, Biotechnology Engineering undergraduate student Fátima Dávila, and Sustainable Development Engineering undergraduate student Luisa Díaz.

 

"Our proposed method aims to reduce up to 50% the volume of generated sludge through the use of bio additives. In addition, the process is completely chemical-free, which otherwise could render dangerous waste sludge unfit for reuse," Dr. López explained.

 

The research phase of the project is expected to take three years, and then the tech portion will be addressed.