"Development of a wastewater switch supplemented by separated wastewater collection as a preliminary stage to efficient water reuse and energy production"
Sponsorship:
Federal Ministry for Education and Research; Support measure: KMU-innovativ, Sustainable Mater Management
Project duration: 09/2018 - 02/2021
Project direction:
Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Londong
Project adaptioner:
Stefanie Hörnlein M. Sc.
Participating Institutions:
Abwasserzweckverband „Nordkreis Weimar“ (associated)
Kubra GmbH
MFPA Weimar
Synantik GmbH - Industrielle Mess- und Regelungstechnik
QUNDIS GmbH (associated)
VAB Vakuum AnlagenBau GmbH
Project description
In the field of waste management, the principle of separate collection of unmixed waste and the separation of valuables has already been implemented successfully. On this basis, raw materials are recovered selectively in order to save resources on the one hand and to reduce the costs of disposal on the other. This led to high environmental standards in waste management. In the area of urban wastewater management, potential valuables are currently of limited or no use at all because of heavy dilution and mixing with other substances. The wastewater treatment itself is associated with high costs. Comparable considerations, such as the separation of valuables in waste management, prevail hesitant in the area of urban water management, as the implementation of New Alternative Sanitation Systems in existing dwellings is (also technologically) restricted.
The project idea of AWAS aims at integrating innovative transport techniques and a new technological development for modernization measures in the stock with minimal structural interventions. The objective is to develop a technical system for splitting domestic wastewater with subsequent separate collection, transport and recycling. The main elements are the sewage switch for separating grey and black water and a sewage shaft with two chambers for separate storage. The wastewater switch works close to the wastewater source supported by appropriate sensors at the entry points. This allows the separation of the wastewater streams by the time of its discharge. Due to the temporal separation of the wastewater streams using a vacuum line, new possibilities for wastewater management without having to intervene in the structural substance of existing buildings can be enabled.
Wastewater switch enables minimally invasive source separation in existing buildings.
On February 28, 2021, the BMBF-funded project "Development of a wastewater switch supplemented by separated wastewater collection as a preliminary stage to efficient water reuse and energy production" was successfully completed. In collaboration with MFPA Weimar, Kubra GmbH - Industrie- und Kunststofftechnik, VAB Vakuum AnlagenBau GmbH and Synantik GmbH - Industrielle Mess- und Regelungstechnik, the prototype for the wastewater switch was developed and tested at the Bauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is). The innovation enables a minimally invasive subsequent integration of a graywater / blackwater separation into the building stock. By measuring acoustic signals in the wastewater base pipe, the wastewater origin points in the house can be determined. Coupling this with a flexible separation unit enables subsequent separation of the wastewater produced for its efficient treatment.