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Premier Tech and INRAE bring together science and innovation to reuse treated wastewater

Premier Tech and National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (Institut national de recherche pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement — INRAE) are joining forces to advance research on the reuse of treated wastewater from decentralized systems.

Spanning three years, this €4.5M investment project in innovation, research and development, known as Aquanova, will create around 10 highly skilled jobs. Aquanova has received public funding under the France 2030 investment program, overseen by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (Agence de l'environnement et de la maîtrise de l'énergie — ADEME).

Aquanova was launched today at the Premier Tech Water and Environment research centre in Mèze, attended by local elected officials, institutional representatives and scientific teams.

With France experiencing more frequent droughts and growing pressure on water resources, reusing treated wastewater is becoming pivotal to the water transition.

The research project led by Premier Tech Water and Environment and INRAE is therefore fully aligned with France’s Plan Eau, a national water management strategy, which targets a tenfold increase in treated wastewater reuse by 2030.

— The research project led by Premier Tech Water and Environment and INRAE is fully aligned with France’s Plan Eau, a national water management strategy, which targets a tenfold increase in treated wastewater reuse by 2030. —

“Our goal is to design the end-to-end chain for the reuse of treated wastewater from decentralized systems. This project will combine high-performance, reliable and sustainable decentralized wastewater treatment solutions. These low-environmental footprint solutions will be tested on experimental platforms to confirm performance and reliability over time,” says Benoît Stoeux, managing director of Premier Tech Water and Environment in France.

“Aquanova enables us to focus on the reuse of treated wastewater. We aim to demonstrate that wastewater reuse solutions can safeguard water resources and protect health, while supporting communities and agriculture transition toward more resilient practices,” says Jérôme Harmand, research director, INRAE.

“Our goal is to design the end-to-end chain for the reuse of treated wastewater from decentralized sanitation systems.”
— Benoît Stoeux, managing director of Premier Tech Water and Environment in France

The research project unfolds in three main steps:

  • Ecodesign high-performance decentralized wastewater treatment processes with a low environmental footprint
  • Treat wastewater and associated residues
  • Recycle treated wastewater and associated residues for fertigation, watering, washing or energy production