Science & Technology

The legislation governing the sewage sludge produced by wastewater treatment plants is increasingly oriented towards technologies sustainable from an economic, environmental and social point of view. In this context, in the countries of the European Union there has been a trend towards a progressive increase in the fraction of sludge that is subjected to thermal treatments.

In order to achieve optimal results, when we experiment a new complex technology such as sludge grate combustion, we cannot ignore a parallel theoretical study that allows the correct modeling of the combustion process that takes place in the plant.

Upgrading biogas to biomethane is a very interesting technology to purify biogas to recover methane, which can be used as an alternative to fossil fuel. Biogas is a renewable energy resource that can be generated from the anaerobic digestion of wastewater sludge and from many other industrial and agricultural wastes.

Unlike traditional upgrading technologies, that separate CO₂ from biogas, the biological conversion of CO₂ allows for a significant increase in methane production.

Chemical technologies that can be used to upgrade biogas are well known: the biggest challenge is to demonstrate the economic and environmental sustainability of the processes.

Emerging contaminants have long been the subject of attention by the scientific community: it is a large group of chemical compounds that are found in very low concentrations in wastewater. They are particularly difficult to treat with existing technologies, however, some possible solutions have already been found out: those solutions now need to be verified in full-scale treatment plants.

Activated carbon, a technological solution already commonly used in water purification processes that is also promising for removing micropollutants from waste water.

Oxidation with ozone is an innovative chemical process which is spreading throughout wastewater treatment technologies.

In the last years the focus has been put on the modification of nanomaterials to improve their physico-chemical properties and their efficiency in wastewater treatment.

Emerging micropollutants are chemical compounds most often found in extremely low concentrations: to tackle this issues innovative analytical techniques were needed.

Given the large number of compounds that can be classified as emerging micropollutants, in order to study them properly it is essential to carry out a preliminary analysis of the specific territorial area.

The sustainability of water and wastewater services sector cannot rely only on the development of innovative technologies to guarantee the long term operativity of the urban public water sector: issues related to the environmental, economic and social aspects should also be carefully considered.

The word "stakeholder" in the last few decades has become commonly used to mean a person or organization that has a legitimate interest in a project or entity. In the decision-making processes of a water utility the regulatory prescriptions and the constraints dictated by the authorities obviously have a fundamental role; however, relations with civil society stakeholders also are of considerable importance.

Sludge treatment facilities are characterized by increasing expectation in service, operation and control; therefore the costs for normal operation are usually rather high. Thus, operational expenditures over the whole lifecycle of a treatment plant are a key factor in a cost-effective perspective.

Water utilities are at the centre of a complex policies system set up by the State with the purpose of reaching general interest goals, such as the efficient allocation of the resource to priority uses, equity in access to water services, or water quality.