Project - Particle Separator for Road Water Purification

Project start-up on January 1st 2010. To be completed on July 6th 2011.

The project has been completed. 

In Denmark, the challenge is that both the amounts of rain and rain intensity are expected to increase as a result of climate changes coincident with increasing demands on rain water quality. In this connection, road water constitutes a key problem that has to be solved, as such water is very often polluted with oil compounds, heavy metals, road salt etc. This calls for developing new systems to collect and treat road water both on a centralized and decentralized basis. 

In Ørestad, Copenhagen, studies of a test plant with double diaphragm filtration of road water have shown that the big challenge of road water purification is to remove heavy metals and small particles at the interval of 0,3-30 µm.

The Danish Technological Institute conducted experiments in spring 2009 with a new type of filter in oil separators that have given some good knowledge of how to design oil filters that will remove  oil compounds as well as and smaller particles. The advantage of a particle separator is the big gains obtained by combining both oil and particle purification into one component. 

The Objective of this Project 
The objective of this project is to further develop, optimize, and produce evidence of a new type of particle separator which will not only purify road water from oil compounds, but also remove a great deal of the particle content in road water, and that is also easy to install in existing drainage systems. 

This project aims at providing evidence of the purification degrees of small polluting particles in a newly developed particle separator. Our plan is to combine findings from the test plant at Ørestad with double diaphragm filtration obtained by The University of Copenhagen, Department of Forest and Landscape Denmark, with findings from The Danish Technological Institute of the testing of oil separators for large amounts of water, and then, jointly, suggest further development of the particle separator and a model draft for providing evidence of separators for road water purification.

On completion of this project, an overall report will be presented to provide evidence of the particle separator’s capabilities of purifying the most common agents in rainwater. The report will contain descriptions and conclusions of the tests and analyzes made during the course of the project.

The project will be completed with a feature day on the issue of rainwater purification and there will be articles in various technical journals about the course of the project. In addition, the project findings will form part of the training of sewerage foremen, contractors, consultants, municipal employees and employees at utility companies working within this area. Finally, the findings will form part of the teaching at the University of Copenhagen - LIFE.

Participants

• University of Copenhagen, Forest and Landscape Denmark
• Water Care
• Danish Technological Institute, Piping Systems