Aurea from consulting engineers Royal HaskoningDHV was developed in collaboration with Wageningen University to sustainably remove micro-pollutants from water in wastewater treatment plants, drinking water production sites, and industrial wastewater treatment plants. It combines the best properties of biological activated carbon filtration and oxidative treatment, meeting the objectives of the European Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD).
This allows it to remove a wide range of organic micro-pollutants, using lower energy and resource consumption when compared to reference technologies, resulting in low CO2 footprint and operational expenses. Aurea achieves high chemical and biological water quality.
The Aquatech Innovation Award Jury chairman Professor Cees Buisman said: “What you want with biological sewer treatment is that the process is as close to being natural as possible, because the water will be returned to nature. What impressed the jury was that Aurea aims to meet these goals.”
Professor Buisman added: “The pilot uses activated carbon, which is constantly regenerated by the biomass. Then a little bit of ozone is added to avoid the formation of bromates. This is as close to a natural process as possible and using activated carbon and ozone in a responsible and smart way.”
“It has the potential to be a billion-dollar market and Aurea fits into this very important challenge for European society,” concluded Professor Buisman.
The 2025 Aquatech Innovation Award Winners by category are:
Wastewater Treatment: Aurea – Royal HaskoningDHV (Stand 12.412)
Water Supply: Aqua Membranes Printed Spacer Technology – Aqua Membranes Inc (Stand 13.600-6)
Transport and Process & Control: UWR System – Urban Water Retention ApS (Stand 01.530-A)
Green Chemicals for Water Technology: EVOdescale – Evodrop AG (Stand 02.208G)
Innovation - Not to Market Yet: L-GAP MD – RN Solutions BV (Stand 12.509)
Aquatech Community Award: Weaver Labs with Fluor-Mop Technology.
The Aquatech Innovation Award Jury comprises Prof Dr Ir CJN Buisman (Wetsus – Chairman of the Jury); Prof Dr Ir WM de Vos (TU Twente); Ir P Kamp (PUM Netherlands Senior Experts); Dr Ir Wilbert van de Ven EMBA (Grundfos Holding A/S); Prof Dr Ir AJH Janssen (Shell Global Solutions); Ir CA Uijterlinde (STOWA); Prof M Kennedy, PhD (IHE Delft, Institute for Water Education) and Prof Drs J.S. Vrouwenvelder, PhD (KAUST King Abdullah University of Science and Technology).
