Video: Two new ways to recycle wastewater boosts water quality and provides valuable by-products

With fresh water supplies decreasing and the global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, innovative solutions are urgently needed. Agriculture alone consumes 85% of the world's fresh water, making water recycling essential for a sustainable future. Within the EU-funded project ULTIMATE, researchers across Europe are exploring cutting-edge methods to turn wastewater into a valuable resource for both industry and agriculture.

Water Recycling in Italy

In Rosignano, Italy, the Aretusa Water Treatment Plant hosts in total four different pilots of the ULTIMATE project. Led by Professor Francesco Fatone from Università Politecnica delle Marche, the team is developing strategies to recycle wastewater.

In an October video release, Fatone explains, "Reusing wastewater is an alternative water source that is available year-round and can be controlled in terms of quality, fit for purpose."

One major challenge in the Italian wastewater treatment plant is saltwater intrusion, which increases chloride levels, making water reuse difficult. To tackle this, the team has installed a reverse osmosis desalination plant and a salinity early warning system, ensuring that the recycled water meets the necessary quality standards.

Extracting Value from Wastewater in Greece

In Nafplio, Greece, another pilot of the ULTIMATE project is working in collaboration with a fruit juice producer to extract polyphenols from wastewater— Valuable byproducts with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties. The research team has successfully removed 70-80% of the polyphenols, while also reusing 90% of the water byproducts, creating a valuable new resource for industries, such as food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. Dimitri Iossifidis, from Greener Than Green Technologies, notes, “This process allows us to extract valuable polyphenols while recycling the water, transforming waste into new opportunities.”

Turning Water Scarcity into Opportunities

These pilots in Italy and Greece, part of the ULTIMATE project, are showing how wastewater can be transformed into a valuable resource, helping to address the growing challenge of water scarcity. By applying both technical and digital innovations, the project is demonstrating that scientific solutions can create sustainable opportunities from global challenges.

About ULTIMATE

The ULTIMATE project is a European research initiative focused on developing innovative technologies for the reuse of municipal and industrial wastewater. Its pilots aim to demonstrate practical applications for water recycling that can be scaled across the EU and beyond.