Posts (6)
Alice project secondment in Murcia, Spain at ESAMUR
Written by pkan Super User Tuesday, 28 May 2019 10:19
Dr. Lorna Fitzsimons was on secondment to ESAMUR in Murcia, Spain, in Autumn 2018. Her secondment involved several site visits with Pedro Simon and Jesus Chazarra to wastewater treatment facilities, solar farms, pumping stations, desalination plants and a local farmer's cooperative, an excellent example of Circular Economy principles, directly associated with the ALICE project objectives in terms of knowledge exchange and sharing of good practices.
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A few months ago, I was seconded from Ulster University by my supervisors Prof. Neil Hewitt and Dr. Caterina Brandoni to the Council of Water, Agriculture and Environment, Water Division of the Region of Murcia in Spain. My role during the secondment was to collect information about the challenges and summarise on the best practices of water reuse in Murcia. This was an excellent opportunity as the Region of Murcia is a leader in this field as I learned from meeting with Pedro Simon of ESAMUR - they actually reuse 95% of water! I visited ESAMUR and got access to their most up to date printed literature (it was printed in Spanish, but I was able to understand the relevant text relating to the data and diagrams) and Pedro explained about energy use in the different processes of water treatment, the current and potential opportunities for renewable technologies and the challenges and improvements they were making to the waste water treatment plants across the region. I also had access to the library of water and to find out about the various projects happening there. I learned about the policy background which lead to the current layout of the water treatment plants in Murcia. All of the partners in Spain were very welcoming and kind, they took time to explain the background and history of waste water treatment in the region so that I could better understand how they had got the where they are today. Manuel Boluda explained to me how from 1991 on the policies developed from the Royal Directive and the plants were built based upon population and also development happened at a time when industry was growing so this factor influenced sizing. Many changes took place between 1996 and 2011 and therefore a lot of the Waste water treatment plants in the small regions where industry was have now closed are therefore operating less efficiently, using a lot of energy and costing a lot to run. Various bodies are responsible for different areas of the same river and below this the management and payment systems are different. Other challenges they were facing with regard to energy included the Sun Tax applied to solar technologies to be more competitive with HEP, but despite these challenges, the region have some very innovative projects such a solar panels on floating platforms over reservoirs to reduce evaporation and the Albedo…
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Secondment in Belfast ( Northern Ireland Water)
Written by Leila Samira Nahim Granados Wednesday, 17 October 2018 10:49
I am a PhD student at Plataforma Solar de Almería.My research focuses on the development and application of photochemical and photocatalytic processes for disinfection,decontamination and reuse of wastewater. In the period from September to December 2017, I had the opportunity to complete a placement in Northern Ireland Water in collaboration with Ulster University. During this period I collected and analyzed several wastewater samples. The characterization of these samples was focused on the microbiological content, more specifically in the detection, quantification and isolation of wild bacteria (including antibiotic-resistant bacteria,ARB). Moreover, I worked on the optimization of a photoelectrochemical reactor for wastewater disinfection. It was a enriching experience due to I had the opportunity to work with excellent professionals and researchers. *The images show the recollection of samples and their treatment and analysis.
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Placement in Northern Ireland Water ( September-December 2017)
Written by Leila Samira Nahim Granados Tuesday, 16 October 2018 13:46
I am a PhD student at Plataforma Solar de Almería. My research focuses on the development and application of photochemical and photocatalytic processes for disinfection,decontamination and reuse of wastewater. In the period from September to December 2017, I had the opportunity to complete a placement in Northern Ireland Water in collaboration with Ulster University. During this period I collected and analyzed several wastewater samples. The characterization of these samples was focused on the microbiological content, more specifically in the detection, quantification and isolation of naturally occuring bacteria ( Including Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, ARB). Moreover, I worked on the optimization of a photoelectrochemical reactor for wastewater disinfection. It was a enriching experience due to I had the opportunity to work with excellent professionals and researchers. The images show the recollection of samples and their treatment and analysis.
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