HypoWave - Application of Hydroponic Systems for Resource Efficient Water Reuse in Agriculture
Joint Research Project within the BMBF Funding Measure "WavE - Sustainable Technologies and Concepts to Increase the Availability of Water Through Reuse and Desalination"
The project HypoWave is the first study of a hydroponic system for plant production that is operated with specially treated municipal wastewater. In this system, the plants grow in a nutrient solution without substrate. For this purpose, the municipal wastewater is treated by means of various technical process steps tailor-made for the intended purpose. The system will be tested in a pilot project at the wastewater treatment plant of Hattorf. Here questions on wastewater management and agricultural issues are coordinated. In addition, an analysis of the stakeholder-related, institutional and legal framework conditions will be used to develop the forms of governance necessary for such a concept. Feasibility studies are carried out in selected European regions. Together with an impact assessment, these studies will contribute to initiating the market preparation of the hydroponic systems. At the same time, the research work and its results will be discussed and further developed in a stakeholder dialogue with experts from various areas. Together with the feasibility studies, this dialogue will initiate the implementation of the results. Additionally, subject-specific recommendations for the adaptation of the legal framework will be developed, as well as interactive handouts for practitioners regarding the potential assessment and decision support. On the part of the companies, adapted products will be developed for the application in the field of wastewater reuse in general and hydroponic systems in particular.
The Institute of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering is responsible for the work package on wastewater treatment and coordinates the cooperation between wastewater reuse and agriculture. Technical solutions for adapted wastewater treatment and reuse are the center of our research activities.
Based on the experimental results from our pilot plant in Wolfsburg-Hattorf and considering necessary governance questions, the objective of our research work is to develop an optimized hydroponic system which guarantees optimal nutrient supply for the plants at minimized concentrations of pollutants such as heavy metals, organic trace elements or pathogens. This system also allows a significant increase in water resource efficiency through the reuse of wastewater.
