The french Water Plan, launched in March 2023, aims to massively increase the recovery of so-called ‘non-conventional’ water, with the objective of developing REUSE projects throughout France by 2027 and increasing the volume of treated wastewater reused for other purposes tenfold by 2030.
The ZEUS project - for ZEro liquid discharge water reUSe - implemented at MONIN, a manufacturer of fruit syrups and purées, demonstrates the technical and economic feasibility of a solution for reusing the water used in its production process at the Bourges plant. The result is zero liquid discharge and the recovery of waste - nutrients - discharged.
Launched in 2019, the Life ZEUS project is being run jointly by MONIN, INSA (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées) Toulouse, OiEau (Office International de l'Eau) and Chemdoc Water Technologies, a specialist in membrane filtration technologies and water chemistry. It received funding from the European Union's LIFE programme in 2020.
After 5 years of research and prototyping, the ZEUS project, which aims to fully reuse process water at the MONIN plant in Bourges, is now entering its operational phase.
The Life ZEUS demonstrator, comprising two membrane filtration prototypes integrated into the MONIN plant's two-stream process installations, will reduce total water consumption by 68%. Of the 45,000 m3 of process water consumed per year, 100% of the wastewater will eventually be treated and reused, i.e. 40,500 m3 reinjected on site, and 5,000 m3 of waste recovered.
The inauguration and presentation of the installations will take place on 8 October in the presence of the stakeholders.