The largest and northern most full-scale system for wastewater irrigation of Salix plantations in Sweden.
The local community in Hedemora has long experience in producing biofuel from Salix plantations. The cooperation between Hedemora Energi AB and local farmers has resulted in irrigation of 75 acres of Salix Plantations. The local farmers in the project are guaranteed to sell their biofuel to the local municipal heating plant. As a result the project is contributing to the local production and consumption.

Since 2003 the waste water from the town of Trosa (about 4500 citizens) has been treated in artificial wetlands, after the basic treatment in the sewage plant. Thanks to the wetlands the Trosa river and the town bay have been spared from eutrophicating substances (plant nutrients) as well as contagious substances (pathogenes). Besides the value of purifying the water, the wetlands are a popular recreation area. The wetlands are used for education and many study visits are made here.

TAYA is a hybrid technology integrating aspects of process and biochemistry found in intensive systems while maintaining the low maintenance and operational costs associated with wetlands. TAYA technology replaces heavy electro-mechanical wastewater treatment systems by attainting the same effluent quality at a significantly lower cost. The TAYA model calculates pollutant loads oxygen transfer quantities retention times and sludge yield just like activated sludge. The design of the wetland incorporates the filling and draining of subsurface flow basins.

Challenge: Oil spill contamination cannot be cleaned rapidly and completely from varied environments. Technology: Ferrofluids are colloidal dispersions of magnetic nanoparticles that can be manipulated with an external magnetic field. This invention proposes to apply ferrofluidic principles to the mitigation of oil contamination of solids (wetlands) water surfaces and water sub-surfaces. The particle size surfaces and dispersants can all be optimized for stabilizing oil removal collectability and water purification.

Technology Description: Professor Cohen and colleagues have developed a graywater treatment system to recycle water that presents a number of advantages over currently available systems. It allows water to be re-circulated continuously at a higher flow rate than current systems without flooding while still providing an aerobic environment in the “soil” layer. Several novel components including the vegetation support and plumbing are designed to be easily removed facilitating ease of maintenance and repair. In addition a number of features prevents clogging in the system.

Natural purification systems have already been used for years in The Netherlands to improve the quality of waste water before discharge or reuse. The first basic ideas design for the ‘Waterharmonica’ as the link between the Water Chain and the Water System were rewarded by the Foundation for Applied Water Research (STOWA) on its 25th anniversary in 1996. Since then Waterharmonicas have been constructed in various places in The Netherlands firstly on a small scale but now also on a large scale.

At Svartsjöviken in Ekerö municipality, overgrown meadows have been restored. The grounds, which had a low sustainability, were restored with newly developed aphibious vehicles, light band wagons and stump cutting equipment. Today, the meadows are harvested, which has recreated a valuable biotop. At the same time, a long-term parntnership has been established between the municipality, the farmers, the local residents, landowners and various other associations.

Törnebybäcken, a stream which drains most of the Kalmar countryside just west of Kalmar, is one of the municipality's most nutrient-loaded water bodies. Kalmar airport contributes to the supply of mainly nitrogen that is used to keep the runways unfrozen. Through a unique partnership between CAA and Kalmar municipality, a large proportion of mainly nitrogen, but also phosphorus that would otherwise be added to the West Lake (a bay of the Baltic Sea), are deleted in the landscaped wetland park Kalmar Dämme.