Facilities

The CALAGUA group has laboratories at both the University of Valencia (Universitat de València, Burjassot campus) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (Universitat Politècnica de València, Vera campus).Moreover, in the , as well as the Conca del Carraixet WWTP at Alboraya (Valencia), where it operates a series of pilot plants that deal with treat urban wastewater in real conditions.

PILOT PLANTS

In the wastewater field it is crucial to work with an actual inflow in a plant large enough to be able to extrapolate and transfer the results to actual situations. This is why CALAGUA works with pilot plants in a number of WWTPs to be sure of obtaining valid results from tests on proposed technologies.

Pilot scale membrane photobioreactors for cultivation of microalgae.

Pilot scale anaerobic membrane bioreactors for organic matter valorization and nutrients recovery to assess organic material and recover nutrients from waste water.

Pilot scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor for co-digestion of primary sludge, secondary sludge and microalgae.

Prototype anaerobic membrane bioreactor (property of AQUALIA) for wastewater treatment on a demonstration scale,
installed at the Alcázar de San Juan WWTP (Ciudad Real) within the framework of the LIFE MEMORY project.

LABORATORIES AT UNIVERSITAT DE VALÈNCIA

CALAGUA’s installations at the University of Valencia consist of:

A laboratory for the physical and chemical analysis of wastew water and process samples, provided with the necessary equipment to determine obtain parameters like suspended solids, dissolved and total nutrients, COD, BOD, VFA, Alkalinity, etc.

Smartchem 450 (AMS-Alliance) for automatic analysis with spectrophotometric
methods such as N-NH₄, N-NO₂, N-NO₃, P-PO₄ and S-SO₄ determination.

Automated titration sample processer (Metrohm)

Drying oven (MemmertGmbH), muffle oven (Gallur) and
microwave digester (Milestone Srl)

Microbiological and micropollutant analysis lab for procedures such as FISH, qPCR, spectrophotometry, gas chromatography (mass spectrometry), etc.

Vertical laminar flow cabinet (Telstar Life Sciences)

6890N gas chromatograph with ECD and FID (Agilent Technologies)

Gas chromatograph with mass spectrometry detector

Cary 60 UV-vis spectrophotometer (Agilent Technologies)

Prime Thermal Cycler (Techne)

Area for lab-scale tests equipped with climatic chamber, struvite crystaliser, potential biomethanation analyser, plus all the necessary material for setting up tests (reactors, fridges, thermostatic baths, valves, pumps, pipes, sensors, etc.)

Climatic chamber for lab tests

Struvite crystalliser

Potential biomethanation analyser (Bioprocess Control)

Composting lab

Lab for treating samples with equipment equipped for measuring photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll, carotene, etc.), lipid content, soluble microbial products (SMPs) and determining pathogenic micro-organisms like E. coli, coliforms and Salmonella.

UV-Visible spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer Lambda 35)

Filtration ramp

Autoclave (Presoclave 75)

Microscope room equipped with optical and inverted epifluorescence microscopes and magnifying glasses for observation, counting and photographing phytoplankton and zooplankton.

Epifluorescence microscope (Leica DM 2500) with 12M píxel camera

Routine M80 stereoscopic microscope (Leica)

Pathogen count (E coli and total coliforms)

LABORATORIES AT UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA DE VALÈNCIA

CALAGUA’s installations at the Polytechnic university University of Valencia include:

Water quality lab with the appropriate equipment for determining nutrients, salinity, conductivity, pH and DO, as well aslso heavy metals in water and sediments. It also has the necessary equipment for sample pretreatment (reducing particle size, freeze- drying and lyophilisation).