In Helsingborg, a new district is being equipped with a new sewage system. In Oceanhamn, 350 homes and three office buildings are being built in a first phase, and this is where the different sewage system with three pipes out of the homes is tested. It will be partly black water from vacuum toilets, partly grey water, from washing, dishes and showers. Finally, there will also be a flow of food waste from a food waste mill. The food waste will be used for biogas production and nutrient recycling. By treating toilet and food waste separately, biogas production from the system is expected to increase by 60-70 percent per person compared to a traditional system. Phosphorus and nitrogen are mainly recycled from toilet water and food waste.

“With the three pipes that enter the treatment plant and are managed, we can abolish the traditional linear system and instead create a circularity. It's a paradigm shift from cleaning things out of a wastewater to a technology for extracting resources,” says Amanda Haux, operations developer at NSVA, Nordvest Skånes Vatten och Avropp AB.

The new development facility at Öresundsverket in Oceanhamn was inaugurated in early May 2021. There will also be a test bed where the three flows will be able to be studied — both by people on site and by companies and researchers from all over the world who can connect to the different flows via a digital twin. The test bed is located wall in wall with the development facility and in the test bed there is a lab with basic equipment adjacent to the test site for those who rent a space. It is also possible to supply the conventional sewage stream to the Öresundsverket. An operations technician will be on site to service test bed guests.

In the same facility there is also a showroom, where it will be possible for researchers at the facility both to take note of knowledge and arrangements made and to have their own arrangements and meetings. The facility will become a meeting point for research and development throughout the chain from collection and treatment of waste streams to communication with users.

“The goal is a test bed that is integrated into a full-scale system of cutting-edge technologies that can offer excellent opportunities for visualization, education and behavioral communication,” continues Amanda Haux. We offer a platform for interdisciplinary dialogues and an opportunity to become part of the special network around nutrient recycling. There will be an exhibition environment as a knowledge platform. Right now, we don't see the end of the results this might entail.

Behind the plant are NSVA: Northwest Skånes Water & Sewer, NSR: Northwest Skånes wastewater treatment, Öresundkraft and the City of Helsingborg. Reco Lab consists of the three parts development plant, test bed and showroom.

Photo borrowed from Northwest Skånes Water & Sewer.

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