MivaMag™ treats industrial wastewater with magnetism

Wastewater is a major source of pollution, as 50 per cent of the world’s wastewater is released into the environment without treatment, potentially contaminating fresh water supplies or damaging the marine environment.

The European Commission states in its review of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED):“The IED has played an important role in reducing emissions of pollutants from industry, especially to the air, but has made a more limited contribution to the circular economy (resource efficiency) and to reducing emissions of pollutants into water.”

It is expected that stricter regulations for water treatment and emissions to and from water will be put into place.

As a result, more and more industrial companies will seek out wastewater treatment solutions that are certified as Best Available Techniques (BAT) in order to comply with domestic and European directives.

MivaMag™ combines chemical and mechanical wastewater treatment in a process called “magnetic particle separation”. The system removes pollutants from the water and dewaters the sludge in a single step. No filter or additional dewatering unit is needed.

The key to the MivaMag solution is magnetism. After coagulants and flocculants are added to the wastewater, flocs of pollutants form, and an iron-based powder is added. The iron adheres to the flocs, making them magnetic. The flocs are then removed mechanically using magnetic force, and the sludge is ejected into a container.

MivaMag is tailored to the needs of each customer based on laboratory testing.

Sludge from the MivaMag™ process is chemically stable and has a high dry matter content of up to 40 per cent, eliminating the need for costly sludge treatment. In some cases, the sludge can be upcycled into various products.

Moreover, MivaMag removes a high percentage of pollutants such as heavy metals, oil compounds, particles and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In aquaculture, for example, 99 per cent of copper can be removed.

The MivaMag unit has a small footprint and can handle a flowrate of 40 m³ per hour.

The global market for industrial wastewater treatment is expected to reach nearly USD 18 billion by 2027, fuelled by increasing industrialisation.

In addition to tightening up the IED, the EU has issued other directives to protect the environment from wastewater discharge, introduced the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities and is pursuing a zero-pollution ambition in line with the European Green Deal. Eco-friendly wastewater industrial treatment methods will therefore be highly sought-after.

Currently used in Norway, MivaMag™ is being introduced on the European market. Until now, the solution has been primarily used at landfill sites and in land-based aquaculture, but Mivanor sees potential in many other areas, such as the chemical industry and food and beverage industry.