Explore our alliance of dedicated partners, united in advancing sustainability and innovation within the realms of energy-efficient water treatment and environmental protection.
As the parent company of Global Omnium, which manages all aspects related to the collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water, will carry out activities related to the coordination and management of the project, as well as technical support to the consortium through its R+D+I staff.
AVSA manages 13 desalination plants for the treatment of nitrates, chlorides and sulfates. These plants use membrane technologies such as reversible electrodialysis (RED) or reverse osmosis (RO), being the technical training of the workers is therefore ensured.
AVSA has participated in several European projects, such as LIFE BACTIWATER and LIFE LIBERNITRATE. GO has won the Digital Water Prize 2019 as the best Smart Water Platform in Europe and the innovation for the centralized management of the integral water cycle.
Oficina principal: Gran Vía Marqués del Turia, 19. 46005 València
The role of the UA in the development of this project will focus on the following points: i) To
collaborate with APRIA in the design of the new electrochemical reactor (ER) for
electrodenitrification step; ii) To manufacture in its facilities the 3D electrodes that can be
incorporated in the ER manufactured by APRIA; iii) To validate in its facilities the 2 m2 ER
manufacturated by APRIA for the electrodenitrification process under the electrolysis
conditions established by the UA; iv) to participate in the development of the hybrid system
with the ER totally or partially powered by photovoltaic solar panels; v) to participate in the
monitoring tasks for the operation in the pilot plant prototypes referred to the
electrodenitrification step; vi) to coordinate the WP2, and vii) to p
University of Alicante (UA) is a public university located on the southeast of Spain with great
solvency as well as scientific and academic accreditation. One of its main objectives is to
develop an intense research activity contributing to the generation and transfer of knowledge.
UA will take part through the research group ‘‘Applied Electrochemistry and Electrocatalysis’’,
established in 1983. It has extensive experience in the field of electrochemistry; essentially in
the more applied aspects and in the transfer of technology. It has an appreciable portfolio of
patents (21), some of which have been transferred to the productive sector related to the
synthesis of pharmaceutical products and also to the wastewater treatment sector. The
experience in contact with the business sector is based on having developed more than 80
collaborations with companies (contracts, services and technical advice).
The lines in which the group has developed its know-how are:
– Electrochemical synthesis (organic and inorganic products).
– Design of electrochemical reactors and process engineering.
– Synthesis, characterisation and electrochemical behaviour of nanoparticles.
– Electrical energy accumulation systems.
– Electrochemical sensors and biosensors.
– Waste water treatment by electrochemical methods.
– Application of photovoltaic solar energy in electrochemical processes.
Its motivation in participating in LIFE ELEKTRA lies in the need to apply its knowledge and
know-how in the energy field in search of sustainability, favouring greater digitalisation and
optimisation of current and future industrial processes, while at the same time generating new
products and services in this field. Examples of this are: specifications and analysis of
automation and optimal control of softening and denitrification processes acting in combination
with new energy applications.
Instituto Tecnológico de la Energía (ITE) is a private, non-profit association with a national
scope, that focuses its services, products and technological projects on companies and
national and international public bodies. In 1994, ITE was constituted as an association of
companies with a technological concept with the support of the Instituto de la Mediana y
Pequeña Industria Valenciana (IMPV). Small Valencian Industry (IMPIVA currently IVACE)
and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV). Since 2001 it has been a founding member
of REDIT (Network of Technological Institutes of the Valencian Community). The R&D&I lines
and target sectors in which it works are focused on: Energy Improvement; Conventional,
renewable and clean energies; Energy Storage; SmartGrids, Energy Transport and
Distribution; Generation, distribution and consumption; Building and consumption; Buildings
and habitat; Industry; Electric vehicles and sustainable mobility; and Smart materials.
Due to the characteristics of UVEG, the main role will be to put all the know-how it possesses
in the following aspects: i) optimising the water softening process for the successful
implementation of electrochemical denitrification; ii) valorisation of the waste produced in the
pre- and post-water softening stages of the electrochemical denitrification process; iii) recovery
of calcium carbonate in the electrochemical cell; iv) improve the regeneration processes of
cationic and anionic resins, and vii) to participate in all the tasks of the WPs in which all the
partners of the consortium participate.
Universitat de València, Estudi General (UVEG), through the research group
‘Miniaturisation and total methods of analysis’ (MINTOTA), associated to the Analytical
Chemistry Department of the University of Valencia, works in collaboration with national and
international research groups from different disciplines and other public and private sectors. It
has experience in the process of innovation through knowledge (five patents, projects with
companies). MINTOTA combines expertise in chemical reactions, (nano) materials,
transduction, calibration, precision, quality, metrology, multi residue analysis, (micro) solid
phase extraction, chromatography and in situ analysis in various fields. It has extensive
experience in the field of water through the development of some twenty funded and
contracted projects. The lines in which the group has developed its know-how are:
-Development of on-site analysis devices, sensors and reagent dispensers.
– Development and fine-tuning of new techniques and devices for sampling and
analysis. and analysis.
– Estimation and remediation where appropriate of contaminants, including emerging
ones, in food and environmental matrices. food and environmental matrices.
– Nanomaterials: size separation, encapsulation in polymeric matrices,
characterisation, identification and quantification, response to chemical stimuli.
– Analytical control of industrial products and raw materials
– Process and flow chemistry studies.
– Av. Blasco Ibáñez, 13. 46010 València. Espanya. Tel. UV: (+34) 963 86 41 00
The main role of APRIA is the definition, design and construction of tailored prototypes based
on the innovative technologies defined. APRIA has highly specialized human resources. The
current main staff is composed by 10 PhD in chemical engineering and 3 engineers with a
broad experience in developing innovation projects focused on improving and upgrading
industrial processes.
APRIA Systems is a technology-based company located in the north of Spain (Cantabria),
awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness as an Innovative SME. It
was established in March 2006 as a spin-off of the Advanced Separation Processes R&D
group of the University of Cantabria; its activity is strongly focused on innovation to provide
sustainable advanced solutions for the purification of industrial streams based on membrane
and advanced oxidation technologies. Therefore, APRIA is continuously updating and
upgrading its know-how through important R&D investment efforts in order to provide the most
innovative solutions. During the last years, APRIA achieved significant participation in
European projects, coordinating H2020 (SFS-08-2015) and LIFE projects (LIFE16
ENV/ES/000242 and LIFE20- CCM_ES_001748), and participating in H2020- FET Proact,
Interreg, LIFE and PRIMA projects.
ITC will carry out the installation of the pilot plant in a well that supplies drinking water to the
population and will therefore play an important role in the replicability of the project. The
institute has experience in the implementation of other projects and has a wide network of
contacts both nationally and internationally. Therefore, it will be responsible for the elaboration
of the Replication and Knowledge Transfer Strategy and will ensure its good implementation
so that the solution will be sustained during and after the implementation of LIFE ELEKTRA.
Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC) is the technology public body that advises the
Regional Government of the Canary Islands. It was created in August 1992. The Institute
carries out projects and services in the areas of Research, Development and Innovation, in
close collaboration with universities, R&D institutions and companies of the Canary Islands
and abroad. The main goals are to promote and support the technological development and
to encourage and drive forward RTD, in order to foster productive development, as well as
business innovation. The R&D Division is composed by the following departments: Water
Technologies, Renewable Energies, Environmental Analysis, Biotechnology, Biomechanics
and Software Engineering. The staff of the R&D Division (up to 80 peoples) includes PhDoctors, engineers, technicians and maintenance operators.
ITC has developed and assessed water and energy supply technological strategies in
collaboration with decision makers. During the last 25 years, ITC has implemented significant
work on the renewable energy sources (RES) small desalination units coupling, to prove their
technical matching, improve and optimize their operation and reliability, and to promote the
technology in remote and off-grid areas.
Water Department has an interdisciplinary team of seniors (PhD) and researchers highly
qualified and with large experience in the fields of engineering, physical-chemical and
microbiological analysis, treatment technologies, pollutants removal, environmental impacts,
management and energy. The Department’s infrastructure includes an experimental testing
platform for water treatment technologies, a fully equipped water laboratory for the correct
physical-chemical and microbiological characterization of water and detection of
contaminants, and advanced analytical field equipment.
WSC will have the role of replicating the solution proposed in the LIFE ELEKTRA project. The
pilot plant will be installed at WSC’s premises for the period necessary to demonstrate the
successful operation of the system designed to reduce nitrates in the water. It will also carry
out dissemination and communication tasks like the rest of the partners to give continuity to
the system developed in other points or locations with similar problems to those studied in this
project.
Water Services Corporation (WSC) is the national water utility in Malta. Its core operations
include groundwater and seawater collection from several sites across Malta and Gozo, the
treatment of seawater via Reverse Osmosis systems, and the supply of potable water.
Currently the groundwater abstraction makes up of 40% of the total fresh water, with a
forecasted decrease to 30% in the Maltese islands. This decrease will allow the aquifer to
replenish and thus reduce sea water intrusion and nitrate contamination. Furthermore, Water
Services corporation also collects and treats the sewage produced on the islands for its safe
disposal or reuse. Furthermore, the corporation’s laboratory carries out extensive monitoring
across the entire operations (from collection, to supply, to sewage treatment) to ensure the
safety of public health. The corporation is also focusing new research strategies on several
elements of its operations, namely, to improve the quality of potable water, and to improve the
integrity of sewage treatment processes, amongst others.
Address: Head Office, Triq Ħal Qormi, Ħal Luqa LQA 9043
Freephone: 8007 6400
Email: customercare@wsc.com.mt
Web: www.wsc.com.mt
In LIFE ELEKTRA, REDINN will be responsible for the dissemination, communication,
exploitation and stakeholder engagements.
Rete Europea Dell’Innovazione (REDINN) was set up in 2011 with the headquarters based
in Rome. REDINN is specifically focused on communication and dissemination strategies,
promotional tools and support for research and development projects. REDINN is comprised
of professional engineers with consolidated experience in international working environments,
with particular focus on sustainable solutions to problems related to water, energy and waste,
as well as in various industries.
