The pilot plant of the INNOWWIDE project in Uruguay will continue to operate for an additional three months.

El pasado 25 de abril terminó el proyecto PUREWAY liderado por INGEOBRAS dentro de la iniciativa INNOWWIDE. Last 25th April ended the PUREWAY project led by INGEOBRAS within the INNOWWIDE initiative.

Due to its commitment to make its technologies known in international markets, INGEOBRAS saw in INNOWWIDE the perfect opportunity to establish the first links with Uruguay, a country with a growing problem in the region: the presence of Nitrates and Arsenic in drinking water.

INGEOBRAS established a commercial agreement with CIEMSA. It also had the support of OSE (State Sanitary Works), the company responsible for the provision of drinking water and sanitation services in practically the whole country.

The first months of the project were focused on the construction at the INGEOBRAS Innovation and Development Centre of a pilot plant capable of simultaneously removing arsenic and nitrate pollutants from drinking water.

Construction of pilot plant

In February 2021, work was carried out to refurbish and set up the device in the location of Dolores.

The analytical campaign has been carried out both by OSE through its own laboratory and by INGEOBRAS through a private laboratory in Montevideo.

The analyses carried out reflect the effectiveness of the technology, which is capable of obtaining better results than traditional solutions offered on the market with lower operating and investment costs (lower OPEX and CAPEX), as well as being an environmentally friendly solution.

Therefore, OSE has requested that the pilot plant remain in the town of Dolores for three additional months with the aim of making the technology known in the country.

We are especially grateful to all those who took part in the visits to the plant and both face-to-face and virtual meetings that we held during our stay. And to the staff of CIEMSA and OSE for all the interest shown in learning about the operation of the plant and the other water treatment technologies that we have developed at INGEOBRAS.

We would also like to thank Aragón Exterior for its support in the search for partners in the project.

Being part of this project has undoubtedly been a very rewarding and enriching experience that has allowed us to strengthen our professional relationship.  We hope that it will become an important union to carry out new projects in the near future.