In the new city district Antwerp Nieuw Zuid, water-link works on several democases with innovative waste water reuse technology.

Decentralize to close the loop

First, and up until 2020, water-link is testing the production of high-grade drinking water from the kitchen wastewater of pop-up restaurant and event location Plein Publiek. Later on in the project, the same technology will serve at a newly built Colruyt supermarket, where the rainwater collected on the roof and the wastewater from the supermarket shall be processed and purified to high-grade drinking water.

With the NEREUS project, water-link is investing in new concepts for decentralized drinking water production. With this concept it is possible to extract pure water and retain a residual stream from which raw materials can be recovered. The whole process has a low energy consumption and enables water-link to close the loop. 

Social awareness and acceptance

In 2019, a second pilot installation was placed in the basement of a single family home, designed to purify the home’s grey wastewater as well as rainwater to drinking water quality. The resulting drinking water will be locally consumed by the family itself. In December 2019, water-link was busy with the final tests for achieving drinking water quality. The installation is monitored on a daily basis and quality is guaranteed by both on-line and lab measurements.

With this specific pilot installation, water-link aims to gain knowledge with regard to how such an installation can fit into a single family household and how the family members react to the use of locally recycled water.