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Pressrelease | 2019-05-14

Full-scale drug purification plant in Simrishamn inaugurated

Recycled wastewater – that is the goal of extended wastewater treatment at the Stengården plant in Simrishamn. IVL, together with the municipality of Simrishamn, has tested a completely new and innovative purification system. On May 24, the facility will go into full scale production. One of the major environmental benefits is the removal of drug residues.

– Removing drug residues from the water greatly benefits the environment. If we succeed in this, we will dispose over an innovative export product that will leverage great environmental benefits all over the world, says Staffan Filipsson at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. The development project, which was launched at the end of 2014, was funded under the third stage of the Vinnova Challenge-driven innovation programme. In previous studies, IVL has, together with partners, tested a number of techniques for removing drug residues, recycling water and producing energy, phosphorus and other nutrients. In the final stage, which is now in full swing, the project has been scaled up considerably and most of the outgoing water from the Simrishamn wastewater treatment plant will be purified in an innovative system with several different purification techniques – disk filtration, ozone treatment followed by sand or active carbon filtering. The evaluation that is now in progress will hopefully show that the water is so pure that it can be returned to the cycle via infiltration to the groundwater. – This project, where we have all worked together creating the next generation of waste water treatment plant, has been very successful. We have kept both timetable and budget and the plant has now been in full operation for four months, says Stefan Blomqvist, project manager at the water department in Simrishamn. – Water shortages are now common everywhere in the world and they will be made worse by climate change and increasing urbanization. This is part of the solution – that we start seeing wastewater as a resource instead of as waste, says Östen Ekengren, Deputy CEO of IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. On May 24, IVL Swedish Environmental Institute and the Municipality of Simrisham invite you to a half-day with seminar, tour and inauguration of the full-scale drug purification plant. For more information, please contact: Staffan Filipsson, staffan.filipsson@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 65 75 Östen Ekengren, osten.ekengren@ivl.se, +46 (0)10-788 65 43 Stefan Blomqvist, Stengårdens ARV, stefan.blomqvist@simrishamn.se, +46 (0)414-81 92 18 The research project “Tomorrow's municipal wastewater treatment – a production facility of goods” has been carried out in collaboration with the Simrishamn municipality, Nordic Water, Xylem, AquaQ and Cerlic, as well as Uppsala University, Sweden's Agricultural University, KTH, Lund University and Rise. The project is part-financed by Vinnova and Simrishamn municipality and the participating organizations.  

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