The international academic network will present its advances in gray water treatment.

After a year of collaborating on gray water treatment, researchers from the national universities participating in the GWR Project (the University of Santiago de Chile, the Andrés Bello University, and the University of Bío-Bío) will announce the results of their work with the four foreign institutions belonging to the network: the University of Cantabria in Spain, the European Membrane Institute at the University of Montpellier in France, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
The advances and innovations achieved in this partnership will be presented at the in-person seminar, "Research into Advanced Treatments Applicable to Gray Water for Domestic Reuse in the Context of the Global Water Crisis", on Tuesday, November 25. The seminar will take place from 8:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Rector Eduardo Morales Santos Research Building at Usach (Alameda 3363, Estación Central).
Regarding these results obtained within the framework of the "Project to Promote International Linkages for Research Institutions (FOVI)", its director and Usach researcher, Dr. Ricardo Abejón, highlights: "The main activities of the FOVI project contribute to the research already begun within the GWR initiative. For instance, my time at the University of Cantabria has allowed us to begin a life cycle analysis of the gray water treatment technology developed within the GWR project. This analysis will enable us to calculate the environmental impact of the proposed treatment and compare it with other possible alternatives. Furthermore, PhD student Arael Alfonso is currently conducting research at the European Membrane Institute in Montpellier to advance the mathematical modeling of the membrane distillation process for the proposed gray water treatment".

According to Dr. Abejón, "This collaboration will advance the application of advanced gray water treatment technologies and explore those most appropriate for various international water scenarios through comparative analysis and consideration of the network members previous experience. The collaboration will also consider training human capital in gray water management and reuse from a multidisciplinary perspective in different environmental scenarios".

"We hope this contributes to the debate by enriching the discussion on defining standards and regulations for efficient water resource management. It will also open spaces for discussing the global water crisis and the importance of having adequate water resources in terms of quantity and quality. These resources are fundamental to the social, economic, and cultural development of communities", says the deputy director of the Greywater Reuse (GWR) Project, led by the University of Santiago in Chile.

Research on environmental impacts from PUCP.

During the seminar, the following speakers will present on the following topics:
Dr. Roxana Arce, a professor at Andrés Bello University and a researcher for the GWR Project, will speak on "Electrochemical processes for gray water treatment"; Dr. Esteban Quijada, an Usach academic and the director of the GWR Project, will address "Removal of emerging contaminants present in graywater using sorbents"; Dr. Julio Romero, an Usach academic and a researcher for the GWR Project, will present "High-quality water from graywater: the potential of membrane distillation"; Dr. Ricardo Abejón, an Usach academic and the deputy director of the GWR Project, will present "Irrigation of green walls with gray water." To close the day, Dr. Ian Vázquez-Rowe, an academic at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and an expert in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), will present "Environmental impacts of wastewater treatment". Academic Ian Vázquez-Rowe holds a Ph.D. in chemical and environmental engineering from the University of Santiago de Compostela. His career highlights include his work at the Henri Tudor Public Research Center in Luxembourg and his current role as director of the Peruvian Life Cycle and Industrial Ecology Network (PELCAN), a research group in the engineering department at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Regarding collaboration with Chilean researchers, Dr. Vázquez-Rowe notes, “FOVI is one of a growing number of collaboration mechanisms that enable universities in other Latin American countries to participate as external partners in Chilean university projects. In our case, the PELCAN research group at PUCP began collaborating with Ricardo Abejón's team last year when postdoctoral student Felipe Olea visited us for a few months. This visit enabled us to learn about the greywater project developed by Usach in Chile and discuss how life cycle methodologies could establish metrics to evaluate its environmental sustainability".

Regarding gray water treatment, he explains, "At PELCAN-PUCP, our research focuses primarily on the impact of microplastics on drinking water and wastewater treatment lines. To this end, we measure microplastics at various stages of the urban water cycle in Lima. We are also developing metrics to assess the environmental impact using LCA methods, which are not yet fully developed".

Dr. Vázquez-Rowe emphasizes that "Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a very suitable methodology for assessing the environmental impact of drinking water and wastewater treatment systems. It allows for the numerical and standardized establishment of the impact of different equipment, treatments, and chemicals. In fact, LCA is a useful tool for comparing technologies from an environmental point of view. It takes into account not only the direct impacts of treatment, such as eutrophication or freshwater toxicity, but also the indirect impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions linked to electricity consumption or infrastructure production".

Regarding his presentation at the seminar, he anticipates: "First, I will focus on the methodological foundations of using LCA metrics in the urban water cycle. Then, I will explain a couple of case studies. I would like my presentation to clearly demonstrate the importance of these metrics in decision-making".
Registration for the seminar is free and open to anyone interested in the topic. Register for the Seminar on Research into Advanced Treatments Applicable to Greywater.