The holistic water management approach

for the recovery of water, energy and nutrients from urban wastewater

Water is our most precious resource and yet scarce and polluted in a lot of places around the world. We believe that the Local Treatment of Urban sewage and Streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUSHR) can contribute to improved water quality and availability. The LOTUSHR project aims to develop universal water management and risk assessment strategies that are applicable for megacities all around the world.

LOCATION

The Barapullah drain systems

NEW DELHI

The Barapullah drain systems discharges the waste water of 5 million New Delhi citizens into the Yamuna river. The 1.6 million Liters of wastewater that passes daily through the drain makes it the perfect experimental test site to demonstrate the ambitions of LOTUSHR.

AMBITIONS

The blue print for urban water treatment, globally

LOTUSHR aims to develop a holistic water management approach for the recovery of water, energy and nutrients from urban waste water that is applicable for mega cities all around the world. It is our ambition to demonstrate that clean water, energy and nutrients from urban wastewater can be recovered cost effectively and implemented successfully by using socially accepted water reuse strategies.

SOCIETAL RELEVANCE

See it as a whole, treat it as whole

Local people treating and reusing water locally, is an integral part of the social-economic change that is needed for a healthier and more sustainable urban living. The LOTUSHR technologies contribute by producing ‘fit for purpose’ water qualities that ensure safe reuse and thereby offsets societal cost for higher quality water. The indirect recovery of resources from the drain water, in the form of energy, water, fertilizers, plants, crops and building materials, adds to the social benefits and the holistic approach of the LOTUSHR program.

INDIA & THE NETHERLANDS

A relationship dating back to the early 16th century

The India–Netherlands relations date back to the early 16th century as far as 1605 when the Dutch entered the Mughal Empire for trading purposes. Since then bilateral trade between India and Netherlands continued to gather momentum. Recently engagement in a range of areas, including trade and investment, water, and education have been discussed by both countries. Especially, in the water sector the Indo-Dutch collaboration is successful in engaging in several large projects. One of which is the LOTUSHR.

RESEARCH

Pre-treated, post-treated and socially acceptable

Through the combination of three research lines safe, socially accepted water reuse becomes a possibility. The research is realized in two overlapping phases: Laboratory and small scale pilot studies and larger scale pilot studies at our Barapullah test site.

Research line 1: Developing socially accepted water reuse safety strategies
Research line 2: Sewage pre-treatment and energy recovery
Research line 3: Post treatment and nutrient recovery

TECHNOLOGY

Proven technologies and methodologies for fast, safe and socially accepted implementation

The required treatment and reclamation steps will be determined by the water quality needed for safe and healthy reuse in households, industry or urban agriculture. By combining existing cost-effective technologies the treatment processes can be scaled up more effectively and brought into full scale operation much faster. As technology alone cannot provide a complete solution, water reuse implementation plans will be developed to ensure socially accepted water reuse.

LOTUSHR  PROJECTS

Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno

The 3 research lines are further divided into five distinct projects which form the backbone of the research within LOTUSHR. The goals of the projects are aligned in such a way, that through joint effort the ambitions of the LOTUSHR programme can be fulfilled.

PARTNERS

Through our Indo Dutch collaboration we can combine Indian ingenuity with Dutch water technology.

Indian and Dutch research institutes work are working together to reach our goals. Over 30 top researchers are actively engaged in bringing LOTUSHR to bloom. We are further supported by business partners that provide us with technical solutions and their superior expertise in their fields.