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Newsletter December 2010
Process Wastewater
The objective of the project is to develop an innovative and sustainable approach for an integrated management of industrial wastewater/stormwater prioritizing non-conventional and low-cost systems with focus on the investigation of biological filters and adsorption reactors having as adsorbents residues and by-products from the industries.
Stormwater
This project brings together the academia (University of Kalmar), one industry (Kährs) that have wood as the main raw material for manufacturing goods (floor and furniture respectively), one company that uses wood chips for energy generation (Kalmar Energi Värme AB) and two industries in the chemical sector (Becker Acroma AB and Casco Adhesives AB), which are suppliers to the manufacturing industries in the group.
Process Wastewater |
Stormwater |
| Industries in the wood sector (e.g. furniture, floor production, etc) do not use water in the manufacturing processes; however, several highly polluted wastewater streams are generated in small volumes after:
- cleaning/ washing of machineries that apply (i) adhesives and coatings onto the wood surfaces and (ii) specific products for the curing phase of adhesives; - cleaning/ washing of sharp planar blades used for the sawn process and to prepare wood surfaces for the adhesive application; - cleaning/ washing of the floor, trucks and vehicles. For these industries, no sustainable wastewater treatment option is available today. There is a need for wastewater characterization, treatability studies, designing and testing low-cost onsite treatment systems to meet the demands of this sector. |
Stormwater runoff (an issue highlighted in the EU Water Framework Directive) is also responsible for water-pollutant transport in wood-based industrial sites. In Finland and Sweden, for instance, the effects of the application of wood preservatives such as chlorophenols and As-based products such as CCA (chromated copper arsenate) in the stormwater runoff quality have not been assessed. There is a need for detailed investigation regarding stormwater transport of these and other pollutants generated in wood-based industries and sustainable management strategies. |
