Aqualia at the vanguard in eco-efficient solutions for the agri-food industry
The Mahou water treatment plant in Alovera (Guadalajara) has a demonstration plant for recovering nutrients and reusing the wastewater generated when brewing beer
The initial results from Life Answers entailed a 30% reduction in cost of treatment and surplus of energy that can be used in the biogas boilers at the brewery
Aqualia is making headway in developing new economically and environmentally sustainable technologies with a view to reducing material and energy resource consumption by focussing on the eco-efficiency of the water treatment, purification and desalination plants that it runs. In this regard, the company's Innovation and Technology team has been working on Life Answer (Advanced Nutrient Solutions With Electrochemical Recovery, LIFE15 ENV/ES/000591) for treating and recovering resources and energy from wastewaters in the agri-food industry.
At Europe's largest beer brewery, the Mahou water treatment plant in Alovera (Guadalajara) has a demo plant running in this project, which has become a bellwether in the market of technology solutions for the food and beverage industry, one of Europe's thirstiest water consumers (as much as 1.8%). This innovative project seeks to properly reuse wastewater and harness sub-products from production processes as resources by applying the principles of the circular economy.
The wastewater treatment techniques proposed in the Answer project represent a step forward in managing the wastewater unavoidably generated when brewing beer, namely by integrating electrochemical technologies, electrocoagulation processes and next-generation bioelectrochemical anaerobic bioreactors. In addition to verifying the effectiveness of the system in the treatment and recovery of nutrients, the project also includes an ambitious objective of creating an energy surplus that the boilers at the brewery can use.
So far, the initial results indicate that the technology developed in Answer reduces treatment costs by 30% through conventional technologies used in the agro-food sector. The process is based on a scale demonstration, treating the effluents from real wastewater to demonstrate the viability of a solution that can be carried over to other areas.
The plant installed at the Mahou brewery opened its doors to Alovera residents and University students in the "Energies and Fuels of the Future" Masters programme at the Autónoma University of Madrid (UAM) to learn about the technological developments made during the project's first year. These visits were held within the framework of the activities organised by the European Union to celebrate Green Week 2018.
The Answer Project is co-financed by the European Union's LIFE programme and backed by a consortium led by Mahou-San Miguel that includes Aqualia, the University of Alcalá and Recuperaciones Tolón, S.A.
Aqualia has been developing several regional projects to contribute to sustainability in its commitment to eco-efficiency as the cornerstone of the new technological systems: Mides for sustainable desalination; Valorastur for eco-efficient water treatment by recycling sludge as a resource for innovative environmental applications; and Smart Green Gas for converting waste into energy assets, and thus improving the production of biomethane. The Smart Green Gas Project led by Aqualia with the collaboration of SEAT recently received recognition as the best “Innovative Project” at the GASNAM Congress organised by the Iberian Association of Natural Gas for Mobility.
