#ecology #water #sustainability #EENCanHelp
EU-funded Circular Economy project: ecology and innovation with grey water use
The topic of water treatment holds huge potential. For INTEWA, it is a key to the company's development and positioning as a hidden champion for greywater treatment. But how can greywater, or wastewater, be treated and circulated to reduce consumption? With the help of ZENIT's funding experts from the Enterprise Europe Network, it was possible to submit a successful application in an EU funding programme a few years ago. Now the course is being set for series production and market launch. This is in line with the EU policy focus on the Circular Economy.
Back in 2012, a development by Aachen-based INTEWA GmbH caused a stir among experts. At a trade fair, it had presented an innovative modular system for water treatment, for which a successful application could be made in an EU funding programme with the help of ZENIT funding experts. Thanks to the funding, which runs until the end of 2015, the course is now being set for series production and market launch. This is entirely in line with the EU's policy focus on the Circular Economy. The topic of water treatment holds huge potential. But how can greywater or wastewater be treated and circulated to reduce consumption? The requirements are complex. For example, high minimum standards for water quality must be met so that the systems are accepted by end users and municipalities. For the water specialists from Aachen, the approach was clear: "membrane filtration" is the name of the solution with which the finest particles such as bacteria can be filtered out of the water. Thanks to the innovative process, the previously high acquisition and maintenance costs should soon be a thing of the past and wastewater can be treated for further use in a cost-effective and hygienic manner.
EU funding helps with market launch
AQUALOOP is the name of the water treatment system that, among other things, treats shower and bath water in the domestic and commercial sector for toilet flushing, garden irrigation or the washing machine. All this saves costs and protects the environment at the same time. INTEWA Managing Director Oliver Ringelstein was convinced from the start that this system deserved funding. Because he already knew the NRW.Europa experts at ZENIT from other contexts, contact was quickly established and the EU Eco-Innovation programme was found as a suitable funding opportunity. The programme, which runs until the end of 2014, aimed to promote pilot and demonstration projects as well as the market launch of environmentally friendly, sustainable developments. ZENIT helped with the application for funding - and the positive funding decision was not long in coming. Thanks to the funding, the necessary steps towards market introduction could now be tackled systematically. This includes, among other things, the topic of management and the creation of the prerequisites for series production, including quality and price determination. But technical issues such as process optimisation in the area of membrane technology and cost-effective production of heat recovery also played a role. "Without the EU funding, we would not have been able to implement the project. The ZENIT consultancy via the Enterprise Europe Network gave us decisive impetus."
Key role in positioning as a hidden champion
Today, more than five years after the end of the project, Oliver Ringelstein can say that the Aqualoop kit works and has become an important product for his company, which he enjoys selling internationally. For INTEWA, it is a key in the company's development and in its positioning as a hidden champion for greywater treatment. In view of current climate trends and tendencies towards dry, hot summers, empty reservoirs and dry soils, the question of how we deal with water is becoming more and more pressing at many locations, even in temperate climate zones in Central Europe. Not only for ecological reasons, but also for economic considerations. Water prices and availability of water in sufficient quantities and qualities are changing dramatically. The Spiegel headline: Water is the new oil. For Intewa, this is both a window of opportunity and a mission. INTEWA is already working on the next chapter and the next generation of greywater filtration systems.
Contact to the NRW.Europa-Team:
ZENIT GmbH / Enterprise Europe Network
für Nordrhein-Westfalen NRW.Europa
Sabrina Wodrich
Telefon: 0208 30004-44
E-Mail: sw(at)zenit.de
Tim Schüürmann
Telefon: 0208 30004-28
E-Mail: ts(at)zenit.de
www.zenit.de
Contact to the company:
INTEWA GmbH
Auf der Hüls 182
D-52068 Aachen
Telefon: +49 (0)241 96605 0
Telefax: +49 (0)241 96605 10
info@intewa.de
www.intewa.de
Video-Url: [ Ссылка ]
Contact:
www.nrweuropa.de
Redaktion: Tim Schüürmann, Sabrina Wodrich, Andrea Dohle
erstellt durch: Florian Zeppenfeld, Vogelheim TV
www.vogelheim.tv
Copyright: www.zenit.de
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