Advancing EleCtrochemical processes for water safety and circularity (AECo)

More efficient use and management of water are critical to addressing the growing demand for water, threats to water security and the increasing frequency and severity of droughts and floods resulting from climate change. SDG-6 sets a target to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally by 2030. Existing technologies fail when scored holistically by the treatment efficiency, cost, and carbon footprint of removing organic compounds, micropollutants and treatment of polluted or wastewater. One of the promising ways to address this challenge is to combine conventional technologies with electrochemical methods. Even though organic compounds, heavy metals, micropollutants and trace oil can be removed from water using distillation and membranes, these technologies are highly expensive and energy-intensive. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop alternative, economically and environmentally sustainable water treatment technologies. The AECo project develops world-class international research and education platform for advancing water and wastewater treatment technologies by combining them with electrochemical processes. The project enhances the quality and strengthens links between water-related Norwegian, American and Canadian higher education and research to ensure that Norway remains at the forefront of the global science and education in water treatment areas, increasing relevance of this education to the needs and expectations of the business and public sectors. AECo will accelerate the introduction of electrochemistry into water treatment practice by fostering a new generation of young researches capable of sustaining these innovations. The project involves potential end-users of the research findings, including them to the co-supervision activities and creative workshops.

The AECo project aims to develop a world-class international research and education platform for advancing water and wastewater treatment technologies by combining them with electrochemical processes. It establishes long-term international cooperation between research groups and industrial partners from Norway, Canada and USA. The project ensures that Norway remains at the forefront of the global science and education in water treatment areas, increasing relevance of this education to the needs and expectations of the business and public sectors. The project addresses water-related challenges that limit water and resources recycling on the way to circular economy: (i) low efficiency of organic compounds removal in water and wastewater treatment by commonly used chemical coagulation processes; (ii) elimination of micropollutants and contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) from the water cycle; (iii) oil-water separation in offshore production. The AECo will accelerate the introduction of electrochemistry into water treatment practice by fostering a new generation of young researches capable of sustaining these innovations. The project involves potential end-users of the research findings including them to the co-supervision activities and creative workshops, driving lateral thinking and radical approaches to address research challenges of the project. The project supports the achievement of the SDG 6 in general and Target 6.3 in particular by introducing electrochemical processes to improve ambient water quality by eliminating, minimizing and significantly reducing different streams of pollution into water bodies. The project will help to meet key challenges in the public sector by providing new technological solutions for water safety and circularity.