Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Programme 2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB North Sea

Date of latest update: 2024-01-30

Description

Description (EN):

The North Sea region is recognized as an intensive farming area. Nutrient inputs from land have resulted in eutrophication in rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal zones. This shared territorial challenge will be combined with efficient use of the resource phosphorus. Current regulatory practices coupled to mitigation measures to reduce nutrient losses are considered insufficient to reduce nutrient losses down to biological threshold values in the foreseeable future. This project proposes a shift of paradigm and aims at developing a technology for trapping phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in agricultural waste streams such as drainage discharges and greenhouse effluents. The effectiveness of P and N removal of many of these technologies has been proven on lab- and small pilot scale. However, most of the research has been focusing on either P or N removal, so the combination of a N removal technology and a P filter technology has been rarely demonstrated. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to stimulate the exchange of knowledge, jointly develop cost-effective filter technologies targeting nutrients removal for different situations and regions, reuse the recovered P for agricultural purposes and eventually work out implementation guidelines for the North Sea Region. In this way the main source of diffuse nutrient losses can be mitigated in high-risk areas. Eventually this will contribute to the long-term sustainable management of North Sea aquatic ecosystems.

Achievements (EN):

Plants need nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), to grow. Therefore, nutrients are used in agriculture. The excess of nutrients ends up in the water and deteriorate the water quality. The NUREDRAIN project tackled this problem by testing filter technologies which can trap N and P out of agricultural waters such as drainage water and greenhouse effluent. The Nuredrain project considered 4 N removal technologies: 1/ a moving bed bio reactor (MBBR); 2/ a constructed wetland; 3/ a woodchips filter and 4/ a zero valent iron (ZVI) filter. N removal is based on biological denitrification of nitrates into nitrogen gas. The configuration of the filter system depends on the water flow, the N concentration and the availability of land or electricity. Average N removal efficiency varies between 50 and 85%. The Nuredrain project also considered several P removal filters. P removal is based on the adsorption of phoshates on an iron rich filter material. Appropriate filter material could successfully be produced and tested during the project resulting in an average P removal efficiency of 45 to 90%. A prefilter is necessary at locations where the filter might be obstructed by sediments. P saturated filter material can be regenerated using concentrated base and an acid washing in a continuous mode. The desorbed material can be reused as filter material and valorisation routes for the P precipitation product will be further explored. A filter regeneration tool can be consulted to calculate for your specific case whether regeneration is cheaper than buying new filter material. Greenhouse effluent can be treated with DIY (= do-it-yourself) filters. A 2-in-1 DIY filter system realizes an 80% N and P removal. Handy men and women can consult the design tool and the DIY MBBR manual to start building a filter themselves. Source based measures are not enough to tackle the current problem of nutrient excesses in surface water. Additional nutrient removal technologies are the solution for nutrient hot spots. A cost-evaluation tool enables stakeholders to calculate which impact can be realized in artificially drained areas. The tool estimates the number of filters needed, the associated costs and the potential nutrient load reduction in a study area providing that information such as surface, flow and nutrient concentration about the area is known. A sound financial model is needed to realize a widespread implementation of nutrient removal technologies in Europe. Dialogues with regional and national authorities, farmer’ organizations, auctions and processing industry have taken place to discuss which public-private support can be given in view of striving for a sustainable agriculture. The Flanders government has decided to provide 75% of investment support to farmers for the installation of nutrient removal technologies. The Nuredrain partnership hopes that other EU member states will follow this example.

Website: https://northsearegion.eu/nuredrain

Thematic information

Water management Soil and air quality

Specific Objective: Develop new methods for the long-term sustainable management of North Sea ecosystems

Thematic Objective: (06) preserving and protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency by:

Investment Priority: (06d) Protecting and restoring biodiversity and soil and promoting ecosystem services, including through Natura 2000, and green infrastructure

Partners (11)

Lead Partner: Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek

Address: Graaf Karel de Goedelaan 34, 8500 Kortrijk, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.vlakwa.be

Total budget: EUR 680 977.00

ERDF budget: EUR 340 488.00

Aarhus Universitet

Name: Aarhus Universitet

Address: Blichers Allé 20, P.O. Box 50, 8830 Tjele, Denmark

Legal status: public

Website: http://agro.au.dk/

Total budget: EUR 329 381.00

ERDF budget: EUR 164 691.00

De Watergroep

Name: De Watergroep

Address: Vooruitgangstraat 189, 1030 Brussel, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.dewatergroep.be

Total budget: EUR 190 910.00

ERDF budget: EUR 95 455.00

Inagro vzw

Name: Inagro vzw

Address: Ieperseweg 87, 8800 Rumbeke, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.inagro.be

Total budget: EUR 323 498.00

ERDF budget: EUR 161 749.00

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Name: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Address: J. Pieter De Nayerlaan 5, 2860 Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.kuleuven.be/petlab

Total budget: EUR 275 819.00

ERDF budget: EUR 137 909.00

Københavns universitet

Name: Københavns universitet

Address: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, DK-1871 Frederiksberg C., Copenhagen., Denmark

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.plen.ku.dk

Total budget: EUR 332 264.00

ERDF budget: EUR 166 132.00

Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen

Name: Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen

Address: Mars la Tourstr. 1-13, D- 26123 Oldenburg, Germany

Legal status: public

Website (not verified): http://www.landwirtschaftskammer-Niedersachsen.de

Total budget: EUR 186 369.00

ERDF budget: EUR 93 184.00

Oldenburgischer Ostfriesischer Wasserverband

Name: Oldenburgischer Ostfriesischer Wasserverband

Address: Georgstrasse 4, 26919 Brake, Germany

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.oovw.de

Total budget: EUR 250 000.00

ERDF budget: EUR 125 000.00

Proefcentrum voor Sierteelt vzw

Name: Proefcentrum voor Sierteelt vzw

Address: Schaessestraat 18, 9070 Destelbergen, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.pcsierteelt.be

Total budget: EUR 317 729.00

ERDF budget: EUR 158 864.00

Universität Rostock

Name: Universität Rostock

Address: Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, Germany

Legal status: public

Website (not verified): http://www.auf-bp.uni-rostock.de

Total budget: EUR 283 529.00

ERDF budget: EUR 141 764.00

Universiteit Gent

Name: Universiteit Gent

Address: Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Legal status: public

Website (not verified): http://www.ugent.be/bw/soilmanagement/en

Total budget: EUR 345 902.00

ERDF budget: EUR 172 951.00

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

VITO

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

University of Aarhus

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

De Watergroep

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Inagro vzw

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Katholieke University Leuven

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

University of Copenhagen

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Chamber of Agriculture Lower Saxony

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Water Association Oldenburg-Ostfriesland

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

PCS Ornamental Plant Research

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Rostock University

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Partners and Projects info

Universiteit Gent

Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Project acronym: NuReDrain

Project start date: 2016-10-03

Project end date: 2023-06-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 3 516 378.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 758 187.00

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, .

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 INTERREG VB North Sea

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-02-14

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

73 / 73 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

871 / 871 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Achievements were retrieved by Interact from the Programme website (http://www.northsearegion.eu/), or a website directly linked from it, on 2021-09-20 and 2023-01-12.

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Nutrients Removal and Recovery from Drainage Water

Description

Thematic information

Partners (11)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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