Sjöstadsverket Water Innovation Centre (SWIC) is Sweden’s leading and internationally known R&D facility in water purification technology. Different mobile devices and purification steps can be connected to the various water treatment lines to compare and develop future technologies.
The innovative water treatment center is owned and operated by a consortium led by the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. It is used for both long-term national and international research programs, and consultancy, testing and development for the industry/other partners. The activities at the facility contribute to development and implementation of new sustainable technologies/methods that reduce the climate impact and resource use in wastewater treatment plants.
The pilot plant is basically divided into different aerobic and anaerobic pilot treatment lines that can run with “normal” wastewater, i.e. the same water that Stockholm’s sewage treatment plants receive. The lines have a varying capacity between 0.1-6 m³/h and have a common pretreatment by a grid separation. Inflows into pilot lines can be statistic or dynamic with the opportunity for own simulated flow variations or directly linked to the actual variations in the Stockholm’s big wastewater treatment plant. In addition to these fixed pilot lines, different mobile devices and purification steps can be connected to the various lines. This includes e.g. ozonation, UV, hydrogen peroxide and activated carbon, reverse osmosis, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, particle counter, online sensors, etc. The different process steps from all pilot lines can be connected in any manner and for example pretreatment by settling can be replaced with drum filters, flotation etc. Moreover, since 2014, a new control system based on UniView has been installed for the various pilot lines.
The facility enables small and innovative companies to test their solutions. Some of the topics being investigated are removal of micropollutants and pharmaceutical residues, membrane bioreactor, nutrient recovery from sludge, and reuse of treated water. SWIC is a very successful example of how innovative investments can lead to great progress which in the longer term will benefit the whole of society.
