Chemical companies at Antwerp port investigate waste water reuse project

The CHERISH2O (CHEmical industry water Reuse In a Sustainable Harbour) project, involving Port of Antwerp-Bruges, VITO, essenscia, VMM and Antea Group, will investigate whether industrial waste water from chemical companies in the port can be purified on a large scale and reused as process water.

Along with the above, 12 chemical companies, including Ashland, BASF, Bayer, Borealis, Envalior, Evonik, ExxonMobil, Ineos, Lanxess, 3M, Monument Chemical and TotalEnergies, are joining in with the research project. By producing their own process water from waste water streams, the companies will reduce their water consumption and the industry can reduce risks around water shortages in the event of drought, while helping safeguard the drinking water supply to citizens.

Chemical companies have at least one thing in common: water is essential to their operations. However, as the climate is changing, sufficient water is not always guaranteed. As part of the CHERISH2O project, they will be looking into long-term solutions to ensure a continuous water supply for both their own production process and drinking water supply by switching to circular water use.

As a first step, CHERISH2O will assess how much water companies need and how much waste water they currently discharge. It will then examine in which business cluster(s) joint reuse of waste water has (the most) added value.

The study also aims to identify the costs, benefits and environmental impact of waste water reuse and will compare the technologies needed to purify the water. From this basic design, a pilot facility will be set up to test the cleaning of waste streams from different companies in practice. The study will also explore how certain substances in waste water can serve as raw materials for other processes. Finally, it will look at the legal framework and the business models that can be used to implement this on a large scale.

The project will cost approximately EUR730,000, to be divided between the project partners and participating companies and financially supported by Blue Deal funds from the Flemish government. Through CHERISH2O, steps are being taken to achieve the objective in the Flemish Climate Adaptation Plan to further prepare Flanders for the effects of climate change. Among other things, this plan aspires that by 2040, companies will completely recycle their water and they will use as little drinking and groundwater as possible.

This is the first time that the feasibility of decentralised circular water networks from industrial waste water will be assessed on such a large scale in a port environment.