New paradigms in wastewater management: from a sanitation problem to a circular sustainable solution (POK)

The water cycle is strictly related to the fair and sustainable development of any society. Appropriate technologies and practices are needed for providing clean water and adequate sanitation to citizens worldwide, while facing environmental and societal challenges, such as climate change and increasing urbanization. Wastewater treatment facilities are nowadays shifting from infrastructures providing effective clean water, sanitation and environmental protection towards advanced biorefineries that can recover valuable resources (as reusable water, biopolymers and nutrients) from wastewater, while aiming at more stringent effluent quality targets, at energy neutrality, and at lowering the overall environmental impact. This MOOC is aimed at providing key elements in relation to the management of the urban water cycle, including both conventional goals and the challenges of the smart cities of the future. This MOOC presents a full picture, although very concise, of present and emerging technologies for wastewater treatment, presented by professors teaching at Politecnico di Milano.

The course is structured in 4 weeks.

Week 1 – Evolution from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to biorefineries

Week 2 – Energy saving and energy recovery

Week 3 – Alternative sources of water supply for multiple uses: recovery of water for agricultural and industrial uses

Week 4 – Material recovery: options and sustainability

By actively participating in this MOOC, you will achieve different intended learning outcomes (ILOs).

Week 1

Indicate the main motivations that called to set new paradigms in managing wastewater

Explain the objectives of the change of paradigms in the wastewater management

Use a new and more efficient approach in planning, designing and managing waste stream

Describe the fundamentals of the urban water service and the role of wastewater treatment as the starting point for further innovations

Explain how nature based solutions can contribute to maximize urban sustainability and resilience

Explain the critical need cities have for water sensitive interventions

Week 2

Recognize the major energy consuming unit operations in treating wastewater

Describe how new concepts and innovative technologies can lead to energy neutral or even to net energy producing plants

Describe how to minimize the energy consumption in existing wastewater treatment plants

Indicate the current technologies to recover energy

Use techniques to recover energy and produce biofuels such as bio-hydrogen and bio-methane by using the chemical energy in the wastewater

Week 3

Explain the possibility to recover water from treated wastewater, highlighting constraints and opportunities

Identify the main technical information on technologies and modeling tools available to reclaim wastewater and perform scenario analysis

Describe the available technologies to remove persistent contaminants and fecal indicators

Compare the integrated modeling approaches available to assess the fate of contaminants from the emission source to agricultural fields, to properly manage the risk related to potentially contaminated crops

Discuss the available options for wastewater disinfection as well as the main pros and cons of each process solution looking both at technical aspects and environmental impact

Week 4

Acquire knowledge about the most advanced fields in wastewater management

Compare the recovering materials which can be turned into inerts for the construction sector, cellulosic material, bioplastics, products for use in agriculture and also to cultivate useful algal species

Describe the thermal treatments applicable to sewage sludge, their rationale and the connected opportunities for the recovery of materials

Explain the advantages and limitations of integrating microalgae/bacteria-based biological processes in conventional and innovative wastewater treatment schemes

Indicate the available biotechnologies to recover materials from wastewater