Nereda® aerobic granular sludge plants will be urban biorefineries in near future. The development of Kaumera Nereda® Gum extractions from granular sludge was the first step. Kaumera is a biopolymer that can substitute oil derived polymers. Here we share our experiences in the EU funded Water Mining project. A transportable Kaumera extraction installation is build, additional technologies will be integrated: (I) nitrogen recovery, (II) phosphorus recovery and (III) alkaline fermentation of organic sludge residuals.
Together with industrial and public partners we combine fundamental research (alkaline fermentation and phosphorus recovery) with classical engineering (Kaumera Nereda® Gum extraction and nitrogen stripping) and process design. This technological process is supplemented with modern approaches from social, political, economic and environmental sciences to stimulate the commercialisation of these technologies and their concomitant recovery products.