Recent European Union directives promote water reuse and set stricter guidelines for pollutants in wastewater. Accordingly, many governments, municipalities, and companies want to improve their wastewater treatment systems without expensive civil works. In June 2023, a new European regulation setting minimum quality requirements for water reuse came into force. The directive covers the safe use of reclaimed wastewater for agricultural irrigation.
Simultaneously, the European Union strengthened the existing Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD). This directive sets challenging targets to reduce the permitted levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and micropollutants in water. It covers all wastewater treatment plants (WWPTs) of more than 100,000 population equivalent (PE) and facilities above 10,000 PE in sensitive areas where eutrophication is a potential problem.
WWTPs will need to remove at least 82.5% of total phosphorus and 80% of total nitrogen by the end of 2035, an increase from the present 75%. This will rise even more by 2040, creating problems for EU member states struggling to meet existing targets. In addition, WWTPs over 10,000 PE must become energy neutral by 2040.
Ines Larrea – Co-founder and CEO
Interview with Cimico about Efficient Treatment Technology
Ines Larrea, of Spanish company Cimico, describes how their efficient technology helps companies comply without building extensive new facilities.
With member states scrambling to comply, Cimico’s efficient solutions need no extensive civil work. Ines reveals how they can help.
Could you give us some background about the company and yourself?
The company was originally founded in 2019 by Luis Larrea, a well-known expert in nutrient removal and moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) technologies in Spain and Europe. When I, Luis’s daughter, took over management it was officially incorporated and executed its first investment round in November 2021. I am an architect who developed a career in the business part of the fashion industry, founding my first startup in 2016.
What do the EU directives for water reuse and wastewater treatment mean for businesses and municipalities?
The EU directives set the minimum requirements for wastewater treatments and, as they become stricter, especially in nitrogen and ammonia removal, an optimized and effective technology installation becomes critical. This ensures water treatment while minimizing CAPEX and OPEX.
How does MOBED technology work?
MOBED is the proprietary carrier for Cimico’s MBBR/IFAS (Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge). The registered design can harbour the maximum amount of bacteria per cubic meter on the market to remove the organic matter, the nitrogen-ammonia, and the phosphorous dissolved in the wastewater.
What makes it different from existing technologies?
Apart from the design of MOBED, Cimico’s technologies differ in the way they are sized and operated. On one side, Cimico has developed a mathematical simulator that can optimize the design of the biological processes, reducing investment costs by 20%. On the other side, Cimico is innovating aeration and control systems, so energy consumption can be reduced by around another 20%.
What is FILMATH?
FILMATH is our simulator based on mathematical models for studying and calculating the optimal dimensioning of our technologies. Cimico can install its technologies both in industrial and municipal settings, working with engineering and EPC firms that design and build turnkey projects for clients. Cimico can also work directly with industries, although they might collaborate with an engineering firm for parts where Cimico is not a specialist.
How does your technology reduce energy consumption?
Cimico is reducing energy by installing specially designed mixers in the aerobic tanks to mix the media in a much more efficient manner. It controls the combination of mixers and blowers with automatic feed-forward predictive controls able to work with reduced dissolved oxygen concentrations that reduce energy consumption.
What are the main benefits of your technology?
I would say:
- CAPEX/OPEX minimization.
- Retrofitting without civil works by multiplying treatment capacity by 2-3.
- Meeting regulatory targets (N<6 mg/l)
- Optimal conditions for bacterial growth
- Minimum footprint
What industrial/municipal sectors does Cimico work with?
We work with all municipalities over 500 PE and industries, including food and beverages, aquaculture, paper, textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil & gas, and mining.
What are the main challenges Cimico faces?
Cimico just signed a 7 million Euro investment round that will provide the capacity to execute large projects. At the moment, the main challenge for Cimico is time, so the 25M Euro pipeline, developed in less than two years, can now be executed and prove the success of Cimico’s technologies in all kinds of industries and WWTP sizes.
What are your plans and new technologies for the future?
Cimico has just launched a new MBSBR/IFAS technology, an optimized sequencing batch reactor (SBR) including MOBED media to enable better ammonia treatment biological phosphorous treatment, and also avoid filamentous bulking.
Next year, Cimico will introduce the first prototype of its membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) IFAS technology, alongside developing innovative anaerobic and anammox technologies, all incorporating MOBED media and the IFAS concept. It will make the operation easier and fully trustworthy, turning Cimico into a leading biological treatment company worldwide.
With the new investment and technologies under development, Cimico looks set for an exciting future, helping wastewater treatment plants meet new requirements.
