As water scarcity intensifies across Europe, utilities are turning to wastewater reuse to strengthen supply resilience. However, the energy demands of advanced treatment, particularly reverse osmosis (RO), can limit the sustainability and affordability of these systems.

This presentation explores how energy recovery technology enables low-energy water reuse by capturing and reusing hydraulic energy within RO processes. By reducing the load on high-pressure pumps, pressure exchanger technology lowers energy consumption and operating costs.

The session will highlight a pioneering European direct potable reuse (DPR) project at the Water Production Centre (WPC) in Hofstade, Belgium, developed by Waterunie and Nuoro. The facility converts treated municipal wastewater into high-quality drinking water using a multi-barrier treatment train that includes ultrafiltration, RO, activated carbon, and advanced disinfection. Integrated PX technology reduces RO energy demand by approximately 23% while helping produce about 400 million liters of drinking water annually.

Attendees will learn how energy recovery can make advanced water reuse systems more efficient, scalable, and economically viable while helping transform wastewater from a disposal challenge into a reliable water resource.