Like many Small Island Developing States, Cape Verde faces challenges with coastal eutrophication due to nutrient releases from poorly treated wastewater.  This project is using digital technologies to help Cape Verde’s wastewater treatment sector to optimize the biological removal and recovery of nutrients, promote the safe use of treated wastewater as biofertilizer, and help reduce wastewater treatment operating costs. 

• Increase nutrient removal efficiency in wastewater treatment
  It seeks to provide sustainable solutions for municipal wastewater treatment plants that does not meet the effluent discharge limits in a coastal area affected by eutrophication and/or hypoxia. It seeks to validate and implement affordable Phos-Value’s sustainable solutions, applicable within the boundaries of the existing infrastructure available in the wastewater treatments plants, that comply with the discharge of nutrients into aquatic environments to less than 1 mg P.L-1 and 10 mg N.L-1
• Recovery of nutrients for use as organic fertilizer
  AquaInSilico’s digital tools will allow wastewater treatment plants treat nutrient-rich effluents and recycle treated water and biofertilizers for agricultural applications. The wastewater in the area is currently being reused for landscape irrigation (e.g. hotel industry and agriculture) without guarantees of quality. To tackle this problem, the government published a new Law regulation (Decreto Regulamentar nº4/2020) that establishes criteria and parameters for the control of the quality of reused water for agricultural irrigation, including treated wastewater. AdP Group has an ongoing project with ANAS under the Strategic Co-operation Programme established between Portugal and Cape Verde (PEC 2017-2021). In this project, the potential for the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation is being assessed as well as the investment required for the long-term implementation of new solutions.
• Reduce wastewater plant operating costs by 25 percent
  AquaInSilico’s digital tools are being used to ensure phosphorus recycling from biological waste sludge with yields higher than 60%. These preliminary validation studies have enabled wastewater treatment plants to adapt their treatment systems more effectively, saving OPEX costs by up to 25%.

Read: Turning grey and brown water into "blue gold"

IMPLEMENTATION STATUS: 

• Progress summary as of November 2022 (PDF)
• Watch this short video to know about the Year 2021 status of AquaInSilico's ocean innovation.