The LIFE “Hymemb” project, for the control of contaminants in drinking water, in which the company Águas do Algarve is one of the partners, was considered one of the ten best projects of the “LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance” program of the European Union (EU) , from the years 2016 and 2017, in the Environment category.
The award was given to the various project partners, including the company responsible for the Algarve's multi-municipal water supply system, in a ceremony that took place at the end of May, in Brussels, during the EU's Green Week 2018.
The “Hymemb” project, which was led by the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), aimed to “demonstrate the feasibility and sustainability of introducing advanced membrane processes in water treatment plants to create a safer and more resilient barrier against contaminants emerging in the production of water for human consumption, while reducing environmental impacts», according to Águas do Algarve.
Within its scope, “an innovative and advanced hybrid treatment process of adsorption to activated carbon in powder with ceramic microfiltration (PAC/MF), a low pressure membrane technology (lower energy consumption)” was used”.
The Algarve company said that the project made it possible to approach this technology “in an innovative way”, which was used for the first time in Portugal.
In the end, it was demonstrated that this type of membrane “allows the production of water in a sustainable way”. It was possible to reach this conclusion thanks to the various tests and trials carried out during 2016 at the Water Treatment Plant (ETA) in Alcantarilha, «in which promising and revealing results were obtained».
«The LIFE Hymemb project demonstrated that the PAC/MF hybrid process presents itself as a resilient and sustainable solution for the control of drugs, pesticides, cyanotoxins, viruses and protozoa in the production of water for human consumption», concluded Águas do Algarve, which was represented at the award ceremony by Joaquim Peres, president of the company, and by employees of Operation Água e Laboratório.
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