Wastewater recycling technology which turns sewage into pellets for industry use has completed its pilot stage at a treatment facility in the Highlands.
The Sewage Recycling System was being tested by Scottish Water at Dunbar and Aviemore Waste Water Treatment Works and is the first installation in the UK.
The project has successfully shown how value can be recovered from sewage while saving on power and maintenance costs tied to wastewater operations.
The technology works using a fine filter to capture celllulose, fats and oils which can be pasteurised to produce a pellet material called Recycllose.
This can be used in paper, plastic, construction, energy and other industries.
The technology has already been successfully used in countries like Mexico, Canada, Israel and the Netherlands.
George Ponton, head of innovation at Scottish Water, said: “It reduces our carbon footprint and emissions by using less power and resources, and increases the lifespan of the equipment we use to treat waste water. Overall the addition of the process could reduce operating costs between 20% and 30%, and we can pass any potential savings on to our customers by keeping their water and waste water charges low.
“By creating less sludge, we also don’t have to send as much of it to be processed at our sludge treatment centre in Edinburgh. Sludge is a by-product of the waste water treatment process and is treated under extremely strict regulations. In many cases the end product of this treatment is a recyclable soil nutrient.”