BIOINDUSTRIAL (2023–24)

BIOINDUSTRIAL explores whether the treatment plant can biologically process only industrial water.

The BIOINDUSTRIAL project, led by IDR and Tradebe, has the main objective of checking if the treatment plant can operate exclusively with water from the industrial collector. Currently, the plant treats 60% water from the industrial collector and 40% water from the municipal collector. Through a pilot plant, the biological treatment of the treatment plant has been reproduced on a small scale, with feeding only from industrial water, to accurately evaluate how the biological reactions involved in this process work.

The results have been positive: the pilot has demonstrated that it is viable to treat only industrial water on a large scale. This option could mean a significant reduction in the plant's annual operating costs, as the need to use municipal water would be eliminated. However, other aspects would need to be reviewed, such as discharge limits and other regulations, to adapt the system to changes.