The Ammersee Wasser- und Abwasserbetriebe (AWA) have the patented cleaning system for microplastics and adhering drug residues from Dr.
Sebastian Porkert and his startup Ecofario for the test phase (we reported).
Herrsching / Eching
- The pilot project is being carried out in the sewage treatment plant in Eching, where the AWA and Ammerseewerke treat wastewater.
The mobile pilot system is expected to take wastewater samples on the premises of the municipal company until mid-December.
The project with the 35-year-old doctoral engineer from Breitbrunn was initiated by AWA board member Maximilian Bleimaier - on short official channels, because he and Porkert both grew up in Buch.
“I followed on Instagram how Sebastian's invention developed,” says Bleimaier.
And at some point he contacted the inventor and said in a general way: "If a test run, then please in our sewage treatment plant."
The futuristic-looking construction has been standing at Stegener Straße 99 in Eching for a few days.
The provisional fourth cleaning stage uses a hose to suck the cleaned wastewater from around 90,000 residents out of a round basin and pumps it through a so-called hydrocyclone.
“The hydrocyclone is a centrifugal separator for liquid mixtures that I know from the paper industry and that filters out larger particles such as glass or sand,” explains Porkert.
Together with Stefan Tomme and two other employees, he changed the technology so that microparticles can also be recorded.
In the cleaning process, the water flows in a spiral through the tube-like component, and the centrifugal forces that result push the plastic particles inwards.
And so often until more than 95 percent of the plastic particles and the drug residues adhering to them have been eliminated.
Depending on the amount of waste water, the designers line up several hydrocyclones.
In Eching, where the wastewater from the Schöffelding, Wielenbach and Wörthsee triangle is cleaned, around 65 centrifugal separators would have to be installed, Porkert calculates.
However, it is unlikely that Eching will be the first customer, because mainly private households and hardly any factories or chemical companies and hospitals are connected.
“We don't yet know how many plastic particles are actually in the wastewater,” says Bleimaier.
The amount crystallizes out in the test run, so to speak, as an accessory, adds Tomme.
The startup bears the test costs, says Porkert.
Around 160,000 euros were incurred for the material.
Around 250 cubic meters of water are currently pumped into the pilot plant and then back into the cleaning cycle every day.
A negligibly small proportion of the total of up to 10,000 cubic meters that flow through the sewage treatment plant every day.
If everything goes according to plan, the microplastic cleaner will be ready for sale in spring 2021.
The price would be in the lower six-digit range, which, according to Porkert, would also be significant for the buyer “with about six to ten cents cleaning costs per cubic meter”.
“At some point, the fourth cleaning stage and thus microplastic cleaning will be mandatory for all sewage treatment plants,” predicts Porkert with regard to the European Green Deal of the EU Commission, which, among other things, provides for higher standards for sewage treatment plants.
"We are very excited about the results," say Bleimaier and Manfred Schmid, the board of directors of Ammerseewerke.
And both agree: "We are proud that we are the first to test the system."
Michèle Kirner
