The 13th of December all project partners met in an on-line meeting, due to the COVID-19 situation, to review the project actions progress since the last project meeting. Specifically, we reviewed the general technical status of the project, followed by a specific review of the different Actions performed, and a general discussion among all project partners to define the next steps to be accomplished before the end of the project.
Specifically, we reviewed Actions B3 (METP performance in Frongoch), B4 (Implementation of the METP Plant in Germany and Ecological Impact Assessment), B5 (Business Plan and End User Experience), C1 (LCA&LCC), D (Communication and Dissemination). In addition, we also reviewed the financial status of the project.
From the meeting, it is important to highlight that the second prototype is already installed in the German demonstration site. This plant will treat a mining effluent coming from a potash abandoned mine characterized by high salinity concentrations. DGRC, together with ELENTEC, are currently working on its performance optimization. In addition, to assess the efficiency of the DEMINE technology in reducing the ecological impact on the receiving stream in Germany, a specific experiment using the aquatic biofilm as ecological indicator is being designed by UVIC. Specifically, a new mesocosm experiment in artificial channels will be carried out at UVIC facilities to compare the biofilm performance under the influence of the treated and untreated effluent from MS.
Moreover, UVIC is collecting all the data needed to perform the Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) on the pilot plant in both demonstration sites. All this information will be used to calculate the operating costs and the overall environmental impact of the plant compare to the current technologies available to deal with the environmental problem targeted in this project. In addition, a multicriteria analysis is being applied to monitor the socio-economic impact of the pilot plants on the local economy and population, following the UNEP Life Cycle initiative.
