Student project: Micropollutant removal from Greywater

Introduction:
Micropollutants (a.k.a. emerging compounds) are detrimental substances present in water in very low concentrations (mg/l). Many of them are not removed during conventional wastewater treatment and thus can accumulate in the environmental and have a negative impact. Although greywater has a relatively low pollutant load, it still contains many emerging compounds that need to be removed.

Goal and activities:
The goal of this internship is to study and understand the effect different (pre)treatment processes have on the performance of a Biological Activated Carbon. These (pre)treatment processes are: sand filtration, ultrafiltration and nanofiltration. Each of those processes will act as an intermediate step between the main greywater treatment (i.e. activated sludge) and the final greywater treatment (i.e. biological activated carbon)

The tasks will be:

• Weekly operation and monitoring of a the micropollutant removal pilots
• Physicochemical analysis of influent and effluents
• Calculation of energy and mass balance of the system
• Evaluating and optimizing the performance of different treatment schemes

The duration of the internship should be at least 2 months starting asap. We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate studying a BSc or MSc program in the field of environmental or chemical engineering, process technology or any other relevant field.
Desah will provide a monthly compensation of 250€; plus all actual travel costs will be covered.

Our profile:
DeSaH BV is located at Sneek, the Netherlands. We are a company that develops and implements innovative and sustainable technologies and concepts within the water chain. In our approach, we do not speak of wastewater treatment, but of Resource Management Systems (RMS) which we design and implement by utilizing sustainable and cost-effective innovations. Our main focus is in decentralized, source-separated sanitation.

If you are interested in the project or you have any questions, please contact Paraschos Chatzopoulos including a motivational letter and a CV.