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ePaper created 2017-03-14, 10:25:37 | version 1.49.03
Water and wastewater technologies Water is our most important food resource. To achieve a secure supply of water and eficient water puriication, we develop innovative solutions for water extraction and water infrastruc- ture concepts that are adapted to the geographical, demographic and regional conditions in each case. To ensure, as far as possible, the multiple use of industrial process water, we are working on technologies with which contaminations can be selectively removed and valuable substances can be recovered. We develop, optimize and combine aerobic and anaerobic bio- logical processes with membrane and chemico-physical processes as required. We employ various technologies, among them membrane adsorbers and electrooxidative processes, to prevent emissions of persistent substances into the environment. To purify water with persistent organic components, we develop technologies where treatment with electric current (electrolysis) or high-energy UV radiation (photolysis) result in reactive hydroxyl radicals that oxidize the organic molecules to recoverable compounds or completely to carbon dioxide, but without the addition of chemicals. Water monitoring Drinking water is subject to a wide range of hazards. For example, pesticides from agriculture or chemicals from industrial accidents can enter municipal supply systems via the groundwater. The release of toxic compounds brought about by criminal or terrorist attacks also represents a growing threat. To prevent the possibility of contaminated drinking water from reaching consumers, it must already be monitored in the supply network. Fraunhofer IGB develops bio- sensors based on living cells that are suitable as early warning systems for the municipal water supply or decentralized supply systems. We work together with other Fraunhofer Institutes on translating the cellular response into a physically measurable signal. (Re)processing of raw and residual materials Our primary raw materials are inite resources, yet in politically unstable regions they are frequently not exploited in a sustainable or socially acceptable way. To supply a growing world population with raw materials and to reduce the dependence on importing raw materials, we develop processes for recovering and recycling secondary raw materials from production and waste streams – in a quality equivalent to that of the primary raw materials and with compa- rable processing complexity and costs. 9 1