WATER & WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT
Optimised dutch weaves from GKD have more and fi ner weft than warp wires
FFRACTIONATED T
ILTRATION Breaking new ground in the analytics of microplastic
o prevent microplastic loads, research, industry and wastewater management are relying ever more heavily on an innovative
metal mesh. With its range of optimised dutch weaves, a leading fi rm of technical weavers has developed a stainless steel mesh that sets excellent standards for fl ow rate and retention. T e company is a proven solution partner in the fi ght against plastic particles smaller than 5mm in drinking water and outlet water and owes its success here to its successful project management in the research project OEMP (Optimised materials and processes for the removal of microplastics from the water cycle). In 2014, Germany’s Federal Ministry
of Education and Research (BMBF) initiated the program “Materials for a sustainable water industry” (MachWas). As one of the largest research programmes in the world in this area, it supports 13 projects for minimising
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water consumption, maximising water availability and developing technologies for water treatment and catchment. T e aim is also to research the origin, distribution and eff ects of microplastics and have sustainable solutions developed to avoid their entry into bodies of water by 2021. T e OEMP project (2016 to 2018) focused on identifying the rates of microplastic in the diff erent wastewater streams and developing suitable prevention strategies. T ree diff erent paths of ingress for microplastics into the urban water industry were investigated: treated wastewater from a sewage treatment plant, mixed water overfl ow from the urban sewage system and street runoff water. As there are more than 200 types of plastic, and microplastic particles diff er greatly in size, shape and chemical composition, the investigations were restricted to the most frequently
occurring thermoplasts: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyamide (PA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). To characterise the microparticles, a sampling procedure was developed with fractionated fi ltration through stainless steel sieves. Here too, optimised dutch weaves from GKD proved to be the best solution during the course of the project. T is mesh type was the basis of the research mandate for GKD within the OEMP. T e optimised dutch weaves with a geometric pore size of 10 µm already tried and tested in the water industry needed to be further developed to ensure the retention of microplastics with an absolute fi ltration rate of 6 µm. Mesh designs with this pore size already available on the market were not suitable for the high volumetric fl ows of the water industry. Optimised dutch weaves from GKD are characterised by signifi cantly more
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