Zero_Energy_Compact_Unit (ZECU) for wastewater treatment in rural areas

Summary

Egypt, a lower middle-income country, is characterized by low sanitation coverage in general and in rural communities in particular. This leaves about 35 to 40 million capita in the rural areas and small communities with a demand of proper wastewater management systems. [6]

Therefore, there is an urgent need to address this problem and find appropriate solutions, which are both economically and technically feasible for Egypt and similar countries (globally).

Zero-Energy-Compact-Unit (ZECU) is a very promising solution for the treatment of wastewater in rural areas. In ZECU, most of the reactor volume occupies vertical space instead of horizontal space. Two small pilots (Q=0.5 and 9 m3/d) were tested in two locations in Egypt. The testing of ZECU pilots revealed some featured characteristics that make ZECU unique in comparison with the conventional systems and other onsite systems in Egypt [3, 4, 5] such as: no energy input; compact shape and a small foot-print area; simple and easy to operate and maintain; low cost in the construction and O&M; effluent meets the regulatory limits; easy to build in situ or in the factory; and producing limited mass of wasted solids.

The levels of ZECU technology readiness now is in TRL 5: Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment.

Through this project, ZECU technology targets to complete readiness level 7 (TRL7: System prototype demonstration in a space environment) for introducing this technology into business case.

To accomplish TRL7, ZECU system is needing external funding (such as this grant) to scale it up to a full-scale prefabricated unit that made of polyethylene pipes and sheets to demonstrate its replicability on an actual scale as a local efficient technology.

 To run the business the inventors need to establish a partnership with a private company. However, most of those implementers do not take the risk of supporting or adopting systems still did not demonstrate in a real environment. Therefore, the only pathway to scale the innovation idea and the best way forward to building the business case is to delivering and testing full scale models of ZECU system. By testing the full scale models in a close observation for 8 months and in a frequent observation in the following years, the system will be ready for the business case.

It is expected that this can be achieved through the partnership with the United Company for Contracts & Trade (UCCT) which is the industrial partner in the current proposal.

Achievements

List of Publications from the Project

Partners

Project Members

Project Leaders

• Alaa Hisham