ILE

Industrial Liquid Effluents

Industry is using water in large quantities during the production processes for cooling, cleaning and for other requirements. This activity threatens our water resources due mainly to the discharge of pollutants into surface water. Therefore is essential the treatment of these effluents to avoid or reduce their environmental impact.

The industrial sectors involved in activities that produce liquid effluents are very extensive, the more representative are plating, cutting oils and burring, textile and leather, paper industries and mines. Each one has his specific problem and thus its own knowledge and expertise in the treatment of this effluent. On the other hand the number of technologies commercially available is very wide as well as the number of emerging technologies. Some times there is not a good relation among the need of industry, the available technologies and the innovation solutions. For that is essential to put in contact all the parties involved in the treatment of effluents to share the information and to favour the collaboration with each other.  It is in this frame that the co-ordination of research, production, marketing and services require intensive use of communication networks.

The number of associations and networks related to the water treatment is very extensive and varied. They respond to diverse objectives and they use to have a social or commercial purpose. Nevertheless this network has a scientific and technical purpose and it is planned at world level.

Taking into account all these considerations this proposal has been conceived to achieve the following specific objectives:

– To regroup a number of European projects, universities, technical centers and laboratories having for common link their expertise in the treatment of the industrial aqueous effluents to select, with concerned industries, the best available techniques of treatment and recycling

– To add partners outside the European community to increase knowledge in treatment and in recycling.

– To create brainstorming groups on the emergent technologies of treatment which could be used in the future.

The main innovation of this network versus other network is the contribution to the selection of the best technical available (BATs) concerning industrial sectors such as  textile, plating, mining… In these forums of discussion to select the BATs will be joining all those involved in the treatment of liquid effluents: research centers, industrial producers of effluents, universities, engineering and consulting. This forum not only will allow a dynamic collaboration and dissemination of knowledge but also will prepare a guide of choice of the best technologies considering the advantages and drawbacks of each one.