Biosorbents for Sustainable Wastewater Treatment

Cooperating countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Austria

Coordinating institution: Suez University (SU), Prof. El-Sayed Abdelazim El-Sharkawy​​​​​, president@suezuniv.edu.eg

Partner institution: Danube University Krems (DUK), Johannes Kepler University (JKU), University of Development Studies (UDS), Maseno University (MSU), Universidade Zambeze (UniZambeze), Redeemer’s University (RUN), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Pretoria (UP), Gulu University (GU), Kyambogo University (KYU), Nkumba University (NU)

Project duration: 1 April 2022 - 31 March 2024

Abstract

Biological materials have received increased attention for wastewater treatment such as heavy metal removal and recovery due to their good performance, low cost, and large available quantities. 2 billion people or 26% of the global population still lack access to safely managed drinking water. Inexpensive by products from agriculture are available everywhere and could have a measurable positive impact on UN-SDG 6: “Clean Water and Sanitation” if used as biosorbents for sustainable wastewater treatment.

The 2-year project “BioWaT” will pair locally available biosorbents with relevant wastewaters and evaluate the sorbents’ performance for sustainable and inexpensive wastewater treatment. The partners in this project will exchange best practices at a network meeting in Suez (Egypt) and prepare larger follow-up proposals with the aim of making sustainable wastewater treatment with biosorbents a reality not only in Africa but globally.