Lidköping Innovation Wastewater Eco-Hub

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

The municipality of Lidköping in Sweden receives water from the river Lidan and Lake Vänern, which also provides natural habitats for 38 species of fish. A number of these species are currently threatened with extinction due to human activity and pollution. The local water board has identified that Lidköping’s waste water treatment plant and neighbouring industries as major sources of pollution in the area. Issues due to micro-plastic particles released into Lake Vänern have also been identified. The waste water treatment plant in Lidköping currently lacks efficient treatment processes for certain substances detected in its effluent.

OBJECTIVES

The LIWE LIFE project aims to demonstrate advanced wastewater treatment technologies that improve water quality while boosting both resource and energy efficiency. The so-called Circular Wastewater System (CWS) developed by the municipality of Lidköping will tackle emerging pollutants and pathogens in local effluents, notably removing pharmaceuticals, hormones and micro-plastics that conventional wastewater plants struggle to filter out of water supplies. The new ängen waste water treatment plant will generate over 700 MWh of renewable energy each year through anaerobic digestion and sell this power to the grid. The project will also attempt to valorise resources (e.g. nutrients) recovered through its process. By implementing cost-effective, resource efficient wastewater treatment, the LIWE LIFE project will support the European Innovation Partnership on water and facilitate a more sustainable use of resources and energy as set out in the EU action plan for the circular economy. The project will have wide-ranging impacts, socially, economically, and environmentally.

Expected results:

Improve the water quality of 4 million m³/year of effluents in the municipality of Lidköping, Sweden;

Reduce the concentration of pharmaceutical, hormonal and antibiotic pollutants in local effluents by 80-99.5%;

Reduce the concentration of micro-plastics and persistent organic pollutants by 99.5%;

Recycle 27% of phosphorus contaminants in local effluents, transforming up to 12 tonnes of recycled phosphorus into high quality fertiliser each year;

Reduce the amount of chemicals needed to recycle phosphorus in local effluents by switching to a biological process for extracting phosphorous from wastewater;

Save energy by extracting nitrogen from effluents in a process that is 27% more energy-efficient than that used in the previous wastewater treatment plant in Lidköping.