The announcement of the Aquatech Innovation Award winners at the official opening on the eve of the trade fair is an integral part of the event. A total of 63 products were submitted for the categories Wastewater Treatment, Water Supply, Green Chemicals for Water, and Innovation – not yet to market. The winners had not yet been announced at the time of going to press, but all 13 nominees have already won, because their innovations are presented in the Innovation Hub.

Category Wastewater Treatment

Aurea®: This is a process developed by Royal Haskoning DHV, Netherlands, in collaboration with Wageningen University. It combines biologically activated carbon filtration followed by chemical oxidation. Organic material such as humic acids, measured as DOC, UV254, or COD, is removed along with a large number of organic micro-pollutants in the biological process. As a result, the subsequent chemical oxidative treatment requires only minimal input of oxidants for the removal of the remaining biorecalcitrant micro-pollutants. This ensures high removal efficiency at minimum energy consumption and CO2 emissions leading to lower operational costs.

SELPAXT™: The unique and patent pending system for removing PFAS from water was developed by Chromafora in Sweden. The system uses surfactant-ligand assisted membrane filtration (SAMF). This technology enables efficient removal of more than 90 % of both, long- and short-chain PFAS molecules.

NTPmax: The Non Thermal Plasma Reactor offered by Tectero B.V.,Belgium, serves for the destruction of PFAS and other POP from contaminated water and air. The system can deal with highly contaminated streams at high PFAS concentration, conductivity, extreme pH or combined with other organic loads.

Category Water supply

Aqua Membranes Printed Spacer Technology®: US based company Aqua Membranes offers RO membranes with printed spacers. As these spacers are directly bonded to the membrane surface, the membrane modules exhibit enhanced fouling resistance and reduced energy consumption even with  highly challenging feed waters.

Freshcup: The German company Freshcup delivers water dispensers, coffee machines, juice presses an juice dispensers, and ice dispensers, e.g. for catering, retail and offices. The nominated product is a fast and compact dishwasher that fits to any kitchen. Users get clean and sanitized cups, personal bottles, plates, and cutlery just by pressing a button.

Water neutral and circular solutions for residential areas: This project carried out by Nijhuis Saur Industries showcases the proof of sustainable water management and a ‘can-do’ mentality of several stakeholders for the housing market by recycling rainwater into drinking water, reusing greywater, and composting blackwater. Key technologies include Hydra loop, greywater recycling, rainwater purification with UV light, and local wastewater treatment. This model promotes water neutrality and minimizes reliance on sewers.

Category Transport and process& control

UWR System: The system developed by the Danish company of the same name is designed to store rainwater, primarily in cities and areas close to cities. It is a square pipe system designed as building blocks that connect and stack in height, width and length. ts modular, patented pipe design reduces installation time, costs, and CO2 emissions while ensuring durability for over 75 years.

Proteus water quality probe: This device is a multi-parameter, real-time sensor platform to measure BOD, COD, TOC and Coliforms. According to Proteus Instruments, it is the world’s first scientifically proven real-time sensor for measuring BOD that can measure a wide range of water quality, environmental and industrial applications.

Category: Green chemicals for water technology

SpectraTab™:  The innovative, slow-release antiscalant tablet is supplied by Canada headquartered h2o innovation group. The tab was developed for small RO systems, including point-of-use under-sink units. It features a high-performance dendrimer molecule that ensures controlled release for longer lifetimes and improved membrane efficiency. It reduces scaling, fouling, and wastewater while being phosphate-free, non-toxic, and safe to handle.

EVOdescale: The Swiss company Evodrop offers this eco-friendly water softening solution, that works without the use of chemicals and preserves the natural minerals in the water. At the same time, deposits in pipes, appliances and on surfaces are prevented. At the heart of the system is granular malic acid, which dissolves the lime formed and prevents recombination of the mineral.

Category: Innovation not to market yet

L-GAP MD: The new membrane distillation module was developed by RN Solutions BV, based in the Netherlands. It is a rectangular module that uses waste heat to produce high-purity water with a conductivity of < 2 µS/cm. As feed water, seawater, brackish water and effluent may be applied. The hydraulic design of the module prevents the occurrence of both temperature and concentration polarization.

Fluor-Mop Technology: Weaver Labs, from UK, use their proprietary technology for targeted removal of short- and long-chain PFAS from water. The element is stated to treat up to 8 times the water volume compared to conventional technologies. Straightforward on-site regeneration produces a highly concentrated PFAS-rich waste stream, optimal for emerging PFAS destruction technologies and reducing their energy costs.

SWICSSY: This end-to-end digital solution was developed by Instrumentation technology, from Slovenia, provides measuring, reporting and visualizing the performance to RO membranes within pressure vessels. In detail, it is an advanced submerged wireless conductivity sensor system, which is specially designed to fit in the permeate tube of an 8-inch reverse-osmosis-membrane.