The EU funded project DEMEAU kicked off on 8 and 9 November at Dunea, the water utility of The Hague and its surrounding area. The event marks the beginning of a three-year demonstration of promising technologies that tackle emerging pollutants in water and waste water.

DEMEAU promotes the uptake of prototypes and practices from previous EU research projects including promoting initiatives in the water sector to deal with emerging pollutants. “This will further secure water and waste water services and public health,” said Theo van den Hoven from KWR Watercycle Research Institute during his opening speech.

DEMEAU will conduct research investigating four groups of promising technologies: managed aquifer recharge, hybrid ceramic membrane filtration, hybrid advanced oxidation processes and bioassays. Existing and improved performance assessment methodologies will be used to compare novel technologies with existing ones. The purpose is to demonstrate the suitability and cost-effectiveness of innovative technologies.

The cooperation with water utilities that have committed to act as launching customers for the selected technologies is essential in the project approach. These demonstration sites act as transfer points for the technologies and will generate market opportunities for SME’s involved. For example, Dunea is partnering with DEMEAU as emerging substances become one of its future priority strategic issues. Dunea’s role in the project is to demonstrate the benefits of managed aquifer recharge and its combination with hybrid advanced oxidation processing.

The DEMEAU consortium consists of 17 members from five different EU countries. These members include universities, research institutions, innovative SME’s, water utilities and policymakers. KWR Watercycle Research Institute is leading the consortium.