DESAH

DeSah scales up in Sweden

Coronavirus countermeasures permitting, a DeSah (member of the Water Alliance) facility in the Swedish coastal town of Helsingborg will be operational by the end of the year. Grey and black water will soon be collected, transported and treated separately for over 1000 new homes and offices in the Oceanhamnen district. The treatment will include the recovery of nutrients for fertilizer. The kickoff is scheduled for January 2021.

The extensive project in Sweden is coordinated from Sneek, the Netherlands. DeSah is providing a three-day training course to prepare operators to use and maintain the system properly. Helsingborg is one of the fastest growing cities in Sweden; its population is expected to have grown by 40,000 by 2035. One of the new districts is Oceanhamnen, which is part of the European ‘Run4Life’ project that focuses on source-segregated waste water collection and decentralized nutrient recovery. The same principle is being applied in the Noorderhoek district in Sneek, the Netherlands, the Nieuwe Dokken district in Ghent, Belgium, and the Porto de Molle business centre in Nigran, Spain, as part of the project. DeSah’s system collects black water (toilets) and grey water (shower, kitchen, washing machine) separately in homes and offices. The kitchens are equipped with grinders for processing fruit and vegetable waste. The waste is fermented with the black water to extract and reuse as much energy and as many nutrients as possible.

DeSah provided the design for Oceanhamnen as an engineering consultant. The company relied on experience gained in Sneek, where the construction of 32 rental homes in the Lemmerweg-Oost district began in 2006, together with Wageningen University and Wetsus. The system was scaled up in another district in 2010 with the construction of 232 homes with improved sustainability. DeSah hopes that Helsingborg will serve as a gateway to the rest of Sweden.