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Well-fed bacteria for potable sewage

2021. November 18.

Sewage treatment is becoming an increasingly important process, and it makes a huge difference where we pour the former wastewater. You could even drink it, but the yuck factor prevents us from doing so. This was also discussed in the podcast of the Blue Planet, with the co-founder of Organica, a world-famous Hungarian wastewater treatment company.

 

In Hungary, most of the wastewater is treated before being released back into the rivers, thus helping nature to self-purify. This is not the case everywhere: in some parts of Asia, Africa and South America, 90% of wastewater is returned to nature untreated.

Some of the rivers in Brazil - I have seen an example of this - have been turned into stinking sewers. So, the character of the river, the clear water, the living things, the birds, the fish, the plants, well, none of that could be seen from the riverbank and the river anymore” –thus the topic was introduced by President János Áder, the host of the Blue Planet podcast. Attila Bodnár, co-founder and vice-president of Organica, a world-renowned Hungarian wastewater treatment company, was the guest on the show on the 18th of October, in which he discussed their own technology and the importance of wastewater treatment.

The phenomenon of water shortage is also beginning to emerge” –Bodnár said. “On the one hand, we discharge untreated water into nature, and on the other hand, we no longer can find fresh water.” According to the expert, the threat of a water shortage is making more and more countries realise that they cannot survive without wastewater treatment. Especially as more and more fresh water is needed for the growing population.

 

Industry is a different story

Organica, founded in 1998, treats municipal wastewater in an urban environment, in huge greenhouses: in buildings that look like botanical gardens. Water is purified with microorganisms and more complex organisms, such as the roots of plants, and the process is not only free of unpleasant odours but also looks spectacular.

The founder of the company later pointed out that this procedure cannot be applied for industrial wastewater, where chemicals must be filtered out for which this technology is no longer sufficient. When Organica was founded, the goal was to install a municipal wastewater treatment system that is acceptable to the local community as well, meaning it could treat wastewater locally in the heart of the city.

If we asked our audience how close to a traditional sewage treatment plant they would be willing to buy an apartment, the answer is usually not “perhaps two kilometres,” but after some consideration, everyone would say, “as far as possible”, Bodnár explained. In practice, however, this means a huge waste of energy, as the wastewater has to be pumped dozens of kilometres away from the residential area and then returned again. This is not the case with the solution offered by Organica.

When we started thinking about this twenty years ago, our condition was that our plant should be much smaller than a traditional wastewater treatment plant and also more efficient,” he added.

They now have more than 120 sites worldwide, on four continents and in eighteen countries (with a dozen sites in Hungary). Their carbon footprint is relatively low because, due to their natural water purification processes, they do not absorb as much energy as conventional wastewater treatment plants.

Bodnár emphasized that in the case of larger facilities, the surplus sludge that is full of “well-fed bacteria”, is poured into digesters and converted into methane, thus gaining energy. “A good example of this is the South Pest wastewater treatment plant, which produces more energy than it uses,” he said. “It can actually be considered a power plant.”

 

We don’t drink it

It’s all fine, but what about the wastewater? Why do we discharge it back into the rivers? Why don't we use purified water directly?

The idea of having purified wastewater in the drinking water network causes everyone to raise their eyebrows or even feel their stomach cramp up,” Bodnár said. Experts have a name for the psychological phenomenon that fully treated wastewater seems disgusting to people even if it is proven to be drinkable. It is called the ‘yuck factor’.

To resolve this, the treated wastewater is discharged into rivers or soil; it’s another story that we end up drinking it anyway, as people more easily accept that the water pumped out of the ground is dirty. In Singapore, by the way, the treated wastewater is poured into reservoirs.

I also had reservations, of course, when a bottle of mineral water was put in front of me in Singapore and I was asked to taste it”, János Áder recalled. “It was the same as any other mineral water. I tasted it, and of course I had no problems, but to be honest, I also had a bad feeling, a suspicion thought - Is it really a good idea to drink treated wastewater?”

The water had the same taste and consistency as normal drinking water; In Singapore, treated wastewater is returned to the drinking water network mixed with desalinated seawater and drinking water from natural water sources. János Áder remarked that Singapore is the only country in the region known to have potable tap water.

Click here to listen to the full podcast. Organica will also exhibit at Planet Budapest 2021.

 

Cover: Getty Images