Reuse of treated wastewater

Circularity of water and nutrients

To reduce pressure on water resources, the LBE is conducting research on the reuse of treated wastewater in three areas:

• assessing the impact of treatment systems on the quality of treated wastewater, 
• contaminant dynamics in REUSE systems and assessing their impact on the environment and human health,
• developing optimization tools to adapt the quality of wastewater treatment to its intended use.

Contaminant dynamics

TyPol (Typology of Pollutants) is a tool that classifies organic contaminants according to properties directly related to processes of environmental interest, such as irreversible retention, biotic or abiotic degradation, transfer to air or water, passage through living organisms, and toxicological effects. This tool is based on both an in silico approach that calculates molecular descriptors and classification methods that combine molecular descriptors and behavioral parameters (Benoit et al., 2014).

Adapting water quality to uses

Modeling and control theory are used to develop algorithms that, when connected to sensors that provide information on the stress status of plants in terms of water and nutrients, make it possible to adjust the quantity and quality of water delivered to plants while ensuring health and environmental safety (Otacilio et al., 2021).

Coordination of INRAE's REUSE collective

The LBE leads INRAE's REUSE network, which brings together the institute's human resources. The work carried out is relevant to both liquid and solid sectors, as it encompasses approaches known as separation at source, with a view to studying and discussing the relevance of solutions that form part of the water-material-energy nexus.