Danube River Basin

In the Danube River Basin, a number of NENUPHAR partner organisations are working on a demo case in both Slovakia and Hungary. 

In Slovakia, SUA in Nitra are testing the possibility of treating dairy wastewater, employing a combination of novel approaches: ultrasound and testing algae/water plants’ nutrient intake. The objective in this demo case is to then be able to apply the plants to the soil as N and P fertiliser. 

The goal of this part of the Danube demo case is to ultimately improve the quality of natural waters – particularly surface water – by ensuring the dairy wastewater has been treated effectively upstream, at-source. Catching the nutrients from dairy wastewater and using them in agriculture as fertiliser is in line with the basic requirements of the circular economy and the management of strategic resources – which includes phosphorus.

The main stakeholders involved in the demo case in Slovakia are the Western Slovak Water Management Company (a key wastewater management organisation and drinking water provider in the Nitra region), and AGRO TAMI, a.s. (a producer of dairy products in the Nitra region). These entities are vital for the research conducted in the demo case as they provide project partners (SUA in Nitra) with wastewater samples for testing.

In Hungary, partners SZE and TEBIKE are developing further innovative treatment technology, including membrane separation and ozone pre-treatments in order to remove N and P from the dairy wastewater. 

The technology implemented in this part of the demo case contributes to sufficiently recycling dairy wastewater by increasing the filtration flux of membranes and minimising the content of toxic substances and impurities while ensuring stable dairy production output. 

The work of the Danube demo site in Hungary is focused around four key sectors: Civil Society, Public Sector, Private Sector, and Academia. 

Specific stakeholders include the Milk Interprofessional Organization and Product Board, which aids in the regional scaling of the technology; the prominent Hungarian Dairy Research Institute Ltd., which actively supports the project by facilitating regional scientific and technological knowledge-sharing; Acta Agronomica Óváriensis from the academic sector, which provides spaces for scientific results; and Óvártej Zrt., which is actively tracking the technology to boost the implementation at the industrial scale.