Futur Prize 2013

RE-WATER Braunschweig 2013
11.11.2013

Experts agree: in about 90 years' time, the usable reserves of substances such as phosphorus will be depleted on earth.

As a result, food could no longer be cultivated. Plants need phosphorus, nitrogen and water to grow, among other things. By eating food, man extracts phosphorus from nature. It releases it through digestion into the waste water. If this phosphorus remains unused, it is no longer available to agriculture. The 20 speakers from six countries will discuss the fact that wastewater can be used as a source of nutrients in Germany and worldwide. They will meet for the fourth international symposium Re-Water Braunschweig on 6 and 7 November 2013. The winners of the Re-Water Braunschweig Future Prize endowed with 10,000 euros, which will be awarded for the first time on the occasion of the symposium, are among the winners. In their award-winning cooperation work, Heidrun Steinmetz, Carsten Meyer and Asya Drenkova-Tuhtan from the University of Stuttgart describe the development of a new and innovative method for dissolving phosphorus from wastewater with the help of tiny magnetic particles, in order to be able to use it again. This idea, coupled with the excellent scientific evaluation, convinced us most ", says Christine Mesek, Managing Director of Stadtentwässerung Braunschweig GmbH (SE|BS) and Prof. Dr. Norbert Dichtl, Director of the Institute for Urban Water Management at the Technical University of Braunschweig, both members of the jury of the Re-Water Braunschweig Future Prize. No chemistry is used in this new method and the research work is carried out in cooperation with a team of scientists from four institutions, the Universities of Stuttgart and Würzburg, the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research in Würzburg and the Institute for Functional Interfaces/Karlsruher Institute for Technology,"says Prof. Dr. Dichtl as further reasons. For us as a waste water service provider, this approach is a first step into the future of phosphorus recycling,"adds Christine Mesek. Further lectures on the two days of the conference will deal with topics such as "Production of bioplastics on municipal sewage treatment plants" or "Nutrient recycling from waste water by algae systems for energy production". SE|BS organizes the fourth international symposium Re-Water Braunschweig 2013 together with the Institute for Urban Water Management of the Technical University Braunschweig, the Wastewater Association Braunschweig and the Competence Center Water Berlin. The symposium is a platform for the regular exchange of knowledge and practice in resource-saving water management,"summarizes Christine Mesek. Background information: Water recycling In Braunschweig, water recycling and thus also the recycling of phosphorus has been successfully carried out for more than 100 years. Together with the Braunschweig Wastewater Association, SE|BS treats and recycles the wastewater from Braunschweig: The wastewater is treated mechanically and biologically in the Steinhof wastewater treatment plant. It is then recycled further: farmers of the wastewater association use the treated wastewater mixed with phosphorus-containing sewage sludge to irrigate and fertilise their areas of around 2,700 hectares. Approximately one third of the treated wastewater is additionally purified by irrigation in the sewage treatment plants before it reaches the river Oker. The Braunschweig Rieselfelder has long since developed into an ecosystem of European importance. In addition to decades of experience in water recycling, which is a model for the whole of Germany, proximity to the Institute for Urban Water Management at the Technical University is also important. The Wastewater Association and SE|BS have processes in wastewater treatment scientifically supported, among other things, also in connection with the Water Competence Center Berlin and Veolia. The aim is to preserve this resource-saving method of water recycling in Braunschweig and to further develop it in a forward-looking manner. Further information can be found at: www.abwasserverband-bs.de; www.tu-braunschweig.de/isww; www.kompetenz-wasser.de; www.veoliawasser.de Future Prize Re-Water Braunschweig The Future Prize endowed with 10,000 euros will be awarded for the first time at the Re-Water Braunschweig 2013 symposium. 22 research papers were submitted. Award winners with the contribution:"Phosphorus recovery from wastewater matrices by means of magnetically separable composite articles" are: University of Stuttgart, Institute for Urban Water Management, Water Quality and Waste Management: Prof. Dr. Heidrun Steinmetz, Carsten Meyer and Asya Drenkova-Tuhtan University of Würzburg, Chair for Chemical Technology of Material Synthesis: Prof. Dr. Gerhard