Micro Wastewater Treatment Systems using Photocatalytic Surfaces (Micro WatTS)
Innovation
Identification and large-scale production of cutting-edge materials for use in eco-friendly, efficient, low-maintenance, solar greywater purification solutions.
Applications
Bringing advanced water treatment technologies from the laboratory benchtop to the public. Development of domestic and small-scale industrial greywater treatment reactors.
Benefits
These reactors will purify greywater for re-use at the point of origin. This eliminates the need for a complex infrastructure to collect, purify and return the purified water to the end user. The purified grey water can be stored for flushing toilets or watering plants. This has the potential of saving up to 30% of potable water used in most households.
What is MicroWatTS
Micro Watts, a 2.5 million Euro project co-financed by INTERREG V. A. Italia-Malta shall develop a micro greywater solar water treatment system,
a step in the right direction when it comes to tackling the problem of water shortage that islands such as Malta and Sicily face.
Research
The scientific research area which will be investigated for the development of the greywater treatment reactors is called heterogenous photocatalysis.
Photocatalysis refers to the use of light to increase the rate of a reaction. In this case the reaction is the decomposition of pollutants in water.