ES1311794U - DISINFECTION AND DECONTAMINATION SYSTEM FOR WASTEWATER AND CONTAMINATED AQUIFERS (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Disinfection and decontamination system for waste water and contaminated aquifers comprising a pump (1), configured to send contaminated water (11) to a filtering station (6), in hydraulic communication with a treatment tank (9) incorporating an LED lamp (7) with ultraviolet light and a configurable wavelength according to the treatment needs and a mesh (8), made of rigid material coated with a photocatalytic material, in contact with the contaminated water (11), the system being characterized in that it comprises a renewable electrical energy generation system (3), such that it is portable, autonomous, modular and scalable depending on the aquifer to be decontaminated. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

WASTEWATER DISINFECTION AND DECONTAMINATION SYSTEM AND

CONTAMINATED AQUIFERS

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a portable, autonomous, modular and scalable system for the recovery of contaminated aquifers and wastewater, based on ultraviolet LED technology, membranes coated with titanium dioxide, as it is a material with photocatalytic properties, and renewable energies for the energy self-sufficiency of the system.

It finds special application in the field of industry related to wastewater treatment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED

Disinfection in water treatment processes, and more particularly in waste or contaminated water, can be attributed to one of the following mechanisms:

- Damage to the cell wall.

- Changes in cell permeability.

- Alteration of the colloidal nature of protoplasm.

- Alteration of the organism's DNA or RNA.

- Inhibition of enzymatic activity.

Disinfection technologies are classified according to their mechanism of action into physical and chemical.

Chemical disinfection technologies can be compared using Chick Watson's Law, which relates dose and contact time to the fatality rate of a given microorganism. Two disinfectants can therefore be compared by measuring their relative effectiveness against different microorganisms under specific conditions. The most prominent ones are listed below.

1. Chlorination and disinfection with chlorine dioxide.

Chlorination is the most widespread, advanced, reliable and fast-acting disinfection technology. The most commonly used chlorine agents in wastewater disinfection are:

- Free gaseous chlorine.

- Sodium chloride.

- Combined chloride.

- Chlorine dioxide.

To form residual free chlorine, it is necessary to overcome the chlorination breakpoint, which is the threshold where chlorine levels exceed the oxidant demand and the water begins to accumulate a residual of available free chlorine. The chlorine dosage required depends on the water quality, as the formation of chloramine and organic chlorine compounds occurs. High ammonia concentrations lead to increased formation of chloramines and, consequently, to increased chlorine demand.

Therefore, the main disadvantage of chlorine is, in addition to the safety risks associated with its handling, the possible formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), such as trihalomethanes (THM), N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and haloacetic acids (HAA).

Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) has the advantage over other chlorinated agents that it does not react with ammonia or form halogenated organic compounds, since the disinfection mechanism is based on oxidation. However, the method of its production (chlorine-chlorite, chlorite-hydrochloric acid or chlorite-peroxodisulfate reaction) can cause the presence of traces of chlorite and chlorate. The formation of these DBPs can be limited by effective management of the production process (control of precursors and product concentration, design or operation of dechlorination), which have advanced in recent years in economic and safety aspects.

2. Performic acid (PFA).

PFA has emerged in recent years as an alternative to UV radiation and chlorination, due to the relatively low investment costs of the reactor and its ease of implementation in a WWTP. However, despite proving its effectiveness in numerous applications (advanced treatment of primary effluents, rainwater and secondary water), its use is not yet widespread.

Due to its unstable nature, it is produced in situ by the reaction of formic acid and hydrogen peroxide. When formic acid combines with wastewater, methane and carbon dioxide are formed, which are considered non-toxic. Therefore, compared to chlorination and ozone, it produces less harmful by-products.

3.Ozone.

Ozone is widely used for the disinfection of drinking water and is becoming an increasingly widespread process in wastewater treatment. The main advantage of ozone is its high efficiency in the inactivation of viruses, spores and cyst and oocyst protozoa.

Other practical advantages are the need for smaller reaction containers (because the contact times required are shorter) and a synergistic effect, combining the disinfection power of ozone with its ability to remove organic traces.

The most important disadvantages are the increased requirements for measurement, control and safety (handling, exhaust gas treatment and environmental control probes).

Like PFA, ozone is unstable, so it cannot be transported or stored. Furthermore, its on-site production is very energy intensive. All of this significantly increases operating costs.

As for physical disinfection technologies, the most effective ones are listed below.

1.Membrane filtration.

Membrane filtration consists of a physical barrier capable of retaining all organisms and particles that exceed a certain pore size. It is used for different purposes, such as membrane bioreactors (MBR) or pretreatment for desalination. Among the reasons that make this technology attractive are the high quality of the effluent in terms of suspended solids and turbidity, and the lack of formation of DBPs, required in some applications.

The main disadvantage is the operating costs. In addition to the high investment required to put the plants into operation, the operating costs are higher than with other disinfection technologies, due to the pressures to which the different flow rates must be subjected and the maintenance of the membranes. There is a high risk of biofilm formation that contaminates the membranes and makes it necessary to clean them, since they can cause recontamination of the effluent downstream.

2.Disinfection by UV radiation.

The wavelength considered to be ultraviolet is in the spectrum between 100 and 400 nm, and is divided into three sections, with the UV-C range (220-320 nm) being the one that shows the greatest germicidal efficacy. Ultraviolet radiation damages the DNA sequences of exposed organisms and reaches its maximum point at 260 nm. The calculation of the necessary dose is currently carried out by computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

The number of installations is increasing, due to advances in production. Despite having a high energy consumption, they are economically competitive installations. Monochromatic LED technology is an attractive alternative to the different lamp technologies installed:

The situation regarding water reuse in Spain will be summarised below.

According to the Supplementary Report on the Promotion of Wastewater Reuse, part of the National Plan for Purification, Sanitation, Efficiency, Savings and Reuse (Plan DSEAR), which identified in its Guidelines document a total of 209 measures with a regeneration treatment component and/or intended for the subsequent use of regenerated water (regulation infrastructures and conduction to the areas of use), in Europe water reuse is a practice adopted mainly by countries that suffer greater degrees of scarcity. Only nine States reuse significant volumes of water (Germany, Cyprus, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and the United Kingdom), with very different levels (0.08% in the United Kingdom compared to 97% in Cyprus). The state of the practice of water reuse is continually evolving, making it difficult to obtain quantitative information on treatment and reuse (annual volumes of water reused and its distribution among the different permitted uses).

In Spain, the lack of an adequate record of the activity makes it very difficult to make an accurate assessment, and there are certain discrepancies in the available data. An appropriate starting point for the analysis is the quantity of water that may be available. According to data from the INE, the volume of treated wastewater from WWTPs has increased in recent years, as well as the total volume of water reused, according to this source, for the same period. The improvement in the number and characteristics of the facilities and the provision of advanced purification processes have allowed there to currently be 322 WWTPs and more than 1,000 WWTPs in Spain with more advanced treatment than secondary treatment, which would potentially be prepared to meet the necessary quality requirements demanded by RD 1620/2007.

The evolution in the percentage of water reused by Autonomous Communities is very varied. The Autonomous Communities that reuse the most are Murcia - Segura, Comunidad Valenciana - Júcar, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Andalusia, Communities that correspond to the hydrographic demarcations in which reuse plays a strategic role.

The 2017 census data indicate that the total volume of urban discharges into the Hydraulic Public Domain (DPH) is 3,081 hm3 and into the Maritime-Terrestrial Public Domain (DPMT) is 1,711 hm3, which implies that less than 10% of the total volume of authorised urban discharges is reused. The National Reuse Plan (PNRA) document drafted in 2010 established annual reuse figures of 430 hm3 in 2009, with a forecast of 998 hm3 for 2015 and 1,403 hm3 for 2021 or later. Therefore, the current reuse volumes are very low and are far from the values predicted by the studies carried out for the PNRA.

In relation to hydrological planning, the hydrological basin plans contemplate reuse in a specific manner in each area, with common issues:

- The requirements are set out in Royal Decree 1620/2007, of 7 December, which establishes the legal regime for the reuse of treated water. Spain is one of the few countries that has a legal basis for regulating this activity.

- Preferential uses are those that are oriented towards a policy of saving, improving the state of water bodies and achieving environmental objectives.

- In deficit systems, water reuse will be authorized or granted exclusively to replace resources from conventional sources.

However, from a territorial point of view, there are very marked differences between the river basin management plans, from an insignificant degree of reuse in the Cantabrian basins, to a very notable use in the most arid basins in the east and southeast and on the islands, areas where water scarcity is a pressing problem. This makes it difficult to carry out an analysis that would allow for an overview of the potential and actual volumes subject to reuse, the intended and potential uses, and their impact on the water balance of the basins.

In an analysis of the uses of reused water (according to data from the National Water Quality Plan 2007-2015), agriculture is the sector that uses the greatest amount of reused water (60-70%), followed by recreational uses (10-12%, mainly for irrigating golf courses) and municipal uses (6-8%, including irrigation of green areas, street cleaning, etc.). There is also interest in its use for the environmental improvement of other water sources, such as recharging aquifers, wetlands or ecological flows of rivers (4%). However, the use of reused water for industrial uses (3-5%) is scarce, taking into account that industry claims around 8% of global consumption, according to the White Paper on Water. Water consumption has little impact as a raw material on its final costs, which encourages a wasteful attitude.

Recent studies and experiences show how current technological developments, within which this project is framed, make it possible to adapt reused water to all uses, allowing it to be used directly for uses with the most demanding quality criteria (including the supply of drinking water). In many countries, environmental constraints, aggravated by the effects of climate change, have led populations to consider reused water as an additional source of water. Water reuse projects in the EU have great potential for development, and several countries are developing the corresponding political framework and increasing their technical capacities.

However, there are a number of difficulties in promoting reuse. The main barriers detected in Spain to the growth of reuse are regulatory, financial, competence-related and technical (location, timing and quality) and, together with the current lack of trust that this resource arouses among users and consumers, help explain the low rates of application of reused water. The major producers of wastewater are urban centres, while the main demanders of reused water are irrigation systems.

The main reason for the stagnation of reuse in Spain is the lack of demand for this type of water resource by the irrigation sector due to its price, which translates in practice into a reduced supply. Irrigation communities with the greatest demand cover their water needs, normally, from regulated surface water, and with intakes generally located upstream of the irrigable area, so irrigation is normally carried out by gravity, without the need for pumping, and therefore with minimal energy consumption. On the other hand, large urban areas that produce wastewater in significant quantities are located in the lower parts of the irrigable areas, so the reuse of their water usually requires additional pumping that significantly increases water costs compared to those of the conventional water rights available to them.

The supply of fresh water from surface water sources, groundwater sources, or from non-conventional sources (desalination and reuse), its transport and distribution, and the collection and treatment of wastewater require an amount of energy that depends on several factors (distance, topography, loss and inefficiencies, and level of treatment required), which are key to the choice of the supply source. The reuse of water is an expensive alternative in energy terms, due to the cost of the distribution network, which is a limiting factor in the process. The present invention contributes to a substantial strategic change in the development of this alternative, shifting the investment policy in distribution networks towards advanced regeneration processes. Along the same lines, water pressures derived from climate change increase the interest in this type of solutions.

Furthermore, the production regime of treated water derived from urban use (supply) does not coincide in time with the demand of potentially associated irrigation. The flows of wastewater produced are practically uniform throughout the year, except in areas with a high tourist population; on the other hand, the water needs demanded by irrigation are low in the winter months, but very high in the summer months, which implies the need for regulation infrastructures, increasing the cost of investment and maintenance. The irrigation sector, especially in cases where its water needs are covered, is logically reluctant to assume the costs as potential users. Among the possible solutions to overcome these barriers and achieve an increase in demand is the application of the principle associated with the circular economy of "the polluter pays".

In the legislative field, both the Spanish regulations and the European Regulation 2020/741, of May 25, 2020, regarding the minimum requirements for the reuse of water, both in force, require a quality of water for reuse higher than that provided by the current WWTPs, which comply with the usual minimum requirements of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of May 21, 1991 on the treatment of urban wastewater. This implies additional treatment of the treated water for reuse, once again increasing investment, operation and maintenance costs. On the other hand, RD 1620/2007 has an eminently technical nature, which may have led to legal deficiencies such as the lack of definition of the inspection and control obligations of the administrations involved (hydraulic and sanitary), the lack of a tariff regime, or specific instruments of cooperation between administrations. Consequently, the barrier associated with the regulatory framework is another of the major difficulties faced by the development of reuse. In this context, the different legal figures determined by the regulations can be decisive. Law 29/1985, of August 2, on Water, created a single legal classification for water, declaring it to be a public domain asset, establishing hydrological planning as the main management tool, and developing a system of assigning private uses through the system of authorizations and concessions, together with a set of powers related to the regime of exploitation and use without the need for expropriation. But in practice, concessions remain to be reviewed, when in reality it should be a priority process in situations of scarcity. Facilitating this practice is vital to create an adequate market for promoting the use of reused water. It is precisely in situations of scarcity that the main reforms have been made to the Spanish regulatory framework in relation to the allocation of water resources.

The first initiatives to promote the search for non-conventional resources through desalination and reuse were undertaken with the now repealed Law 46/1999, of December 13, amending Law 29/1985, of August 2, on Water, which was approved after the drought that occurred between 1991 and 1995. The aim was to find a way to make the concession regime more flexible by transferring water use rights and limited and highly regulated market instruments, reserving responsibility for the allocation (and reassignment) of water use rights to the public sector, introducing two new legal figures: the exchange centre, where the river basin authority is empowered to make public offers to acquire private water use rights in exchange for financial compensation, and offers to sell or reassign acquired rights; and the transfer contract, through which the concession holder is allowed, through an administrative authorization, to transfer to another individual the right to exploit the resource on a temporary basis, with the possibility of financial compensation.

Subsequently, through different Royal Decree Laws, many temporary modifications to the restrictions imposed by the aforementioned Law 46/1999 of December 13 were introduced, motivated by other periods of drought (2004-2005), in order to facilitate the exchange of rights that gave rise to a less regularized market. These modifications have, in part, reached the character of "permanent changes" through Law 21/2013 of December 9, 2013, on environmental assessment, a regulation that achieved a new legal regime that regulates the procedure for reallocation of water use rights in Spain. However, it is necessary to address modifications in the instruments for the allocation of water resources through a series of proposals that allow to guide the allocation of resources and facilitate new markets for the resources generated through reuse.

The Centre for Public Works Studies and Experimentation (CEDEX), in collaboration with the Directorate General of Water (DGA) of Spain, has carried out a relational analysis of RD 1620/2007 with Regulation 2020/741, facilitating the detection of compatibilities and potential disagreements that are fundamentally located in the type of use of reuse, the starting point of the purification process, the types and criteria of quality and indicators, the set of actors involved and their relationships (administrative procedures, distinction between operators and users, responsibility and assumption of costs), and risk management and associated management plans. One of the five axes of action on which the policies and instruments of the Spanish strategy for circular economy and reuse are focused and articulated is the reuse of water as a tool to reduce the pressure on natural water resources, developing an action plan for the 2018-2020 horizon in six actions, with the aim of eliminating existing regulatory barriers, disseminating the benefits of water reuse and promoting it through lines of research and financing.

The advantages of the technology proposed in the present invention are described below.

Considering all that has been set out in the study of the state of the art, the proposed system allows to occupy a position that is estimated to have a niche market, since it presents, among many others, the following advantages:

- It is a DUAL disinfection and decontamination system, which offers the advantages of ozone, avoiding the additional energy costs of producing reagents on site. It allows microbiological disinfection with a high water quality index, while allowing the degradation of a multitude of organic compounds and emerging and priority contaminants.

- LED lighting allows the design of efficient, dimmable and resistant lamps, with a high quality of light, representing significant energy savings compared to traditional UV lamps.

- It is a modular and scalable technology, which allows its application in multiple applications after a prior stage of analysis and design. It can be installed as tertiary treatment in WWTPs or any industry likely to produce contamination, within the purification systems. In the same way, it can be used by users of reused wastewater, as a water quality assurance system, such as irrigation communities or administrations in charge of water management.

- It is a portable and autonomous system, which allows it to be transported throughout the territory to the areas that are needed at any given time. The supply of renewable energy allows it to be installed in areas that are difficult to access and reduces the total operating costs. For example, it can be moved between the different WWTPs in small towns in a province or Community.

- Along the same lines, its portability and its multiple advantages in terms of application allow the creation of synergies between end users and those responsible for sources of pollution, reducing distribution costs. For example, the system can be installed as a purification system on a farm and at the same time serve a neighbouring irrigation community.

- It can be used not only during the summer season when there is the highest demand for reused water. Appropriate annual planning can allow, for example, its use to recharge aquifers in the winter.

- Manufacturing reactors using 3D technology allows the use of recycled materials, as well as the manufacture of customized devices based on the specific needs of each client.

- The materials used for the design of the photocatalytic mesh are harmless, have high resistance and durability, and avoid the use of chemical reagents and the consequent reaction byproducts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention develops a portable, autonomous, modular and scalable system for the recovery of contaminated aquifers and wastewater, based on ultraviolet LED technology, membranes coated with a material with photocatalytic properties, such as titanium dioxide, and powered by renewable energy.

The use of low-energy radiation sources such as LEDs offers an attractive alternative for generating water free of highly harmful pathogens and contaminants.

The photocatalytic process is similar to plant photosynthesis, in which chlorophyll captures sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose. In this case, when photons of light strike the semiconductor material, energy is absorbed, and if this energy equals or exceeds the band gap energy of the semiconductor, an electron is promoted from the valence band to the conduction band. Simultaneously, a hole is generated in the valence band. Oxygen is used in the photocatalytic degradation process as an inhibitor, due to its electronegativity or ability to attract electrons, which prevents positive electron-hole recombination and ensures the capture of other ions. While the oxygen molecule reacts with free electrons and becomes superoxide (O2*), the photocatalytically treated surface, filled with positive vacancies, decomposes, by oxidation, organic compounds and other harmful substances in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O). Therefore, among the most notable properties of a photocatalyst is the ability to self-clean and control levels of fungi and bacteria.

Titanium dioxide (TIO2) is an insoluble, non-toxic, stable substance against chemical action and photocorrosion, and low cost, which is used for the manufacture of catalytic surfaces, depositing it by various methods, such as sol-gel, on different base materials. The band gap energy of this material is 3.2 electron volts (eV), which corresponds to a wavelength of 387 nm, which in the spectrum is located in the ultraviolet radiation band. This means that, when TiO2 captures ultraviolet light, it reacts with water or water vapor in the atmosphere, and forms hydroxyl radicals (OH*). The reactions involved are the following:

Due to its catalytic nature, the properties of the photocatalyst are not consumed during this reaction, since it regenerates its effect by reacting with oxygen from the air or dissolved in water. In the process, the radicals released have sufficient potential to effect the oxidation of a large number of organic compounds, such as pesticides, dyes, oils, cyanides, surfactants, phenols and chlorophenols, halocarbons, etc., converting them into simple and harmless compounds.

When microorganisms have surface interactions with the photocatalyst, photoinactivation occurs, as the reactive oxygen species generated damage the wall of the microorganisms, first breaking down the liposaccharide layer of the cell wall; which causes damage to the peptidoglycan layer, lipid membrane peroxidation and protein membrane oxidation. With these damaged bacterial layers, the cell loses its functions and ultimately dies.

The anatase form of titanium dioxide has the property of being the most active as a photocatalyst for oxidation processes, a capacity also useful in disinfection processes, since the radicals attack cellular structures creating irreversible damage to bacteria. OH* radicals are the main cause of the elimination of bacteria, such as E. coli.

In our country, Royal Decree 1620/2007, of December 7, establishes the legal regime for the reuse of treated water, stipulating, among others, quality levels for the reuse of water according to its uses such as, for example, irrigation of crops and golf courses, or recharging aquifers, taking into account the maximum admissible values of a certain series of microbiological and contaminant parameters.

The possible application sectors of the prototype are:

• Water Treatment Sector, as the main recipient of this innovative process for direct application to its industrial processes.

• Agricultural and Livestock Sector, as the main sources of pollution emissions in our Community.

• Local and community administrations, with powers in matters of surveillance and control of natural resources in order to guarantee Public Health.

In order to achieve the objectives and avoid the drawbacks mentioned above, the present invention describes a system for disinfection and decontamination of waste water and contaminated aquifers comprising a pump, configured to send the contaminated water to a filtering station, which eliminates the suspended components that may obstruct the installation or reduce the efficiency of the process, and from there to a container tank, which acts as a treatment facility.

This treatment tank incorporates, on the one hand, an LED lamp with ultraviolet light and a configurable wavelength and, on the other hand, a rigid mesh, coated with a photocatalytic material, which is always in contact with the contaminated water. In this way, the incidence of the ultraviolet rays of the LED lamp on the photocatalytic material of the mesh activates the function of degrading contaminants.

In addition, the system includes a renewable electric power generation system that makes it sustainable, so that the system is portable, autonomous, modular and scalable depending on the aquifer to be decontaminated.

Preferably, the photocatalytic material is titanium dioxide.

Regardless of the fact that the system of the invention can be powered by a renewable electric energy generation system that can comprise photovoltaic panels, wind turbines or both, it is also capable of being connected to the electrical installation of an existing facility.

The selection of the type of renewable energy to be used will depend on the location of the aquifer to be treated and the prevailing climatic conditions (wind speed or daily daylight hours).

On the other hand, in cases where the water to be treated is groundwater, the system can also incorporate a conduit for access to the groundwater. In this case, the pump is responsible for directing the contaminated water to the treatment tank through the filtering station. Subsequently, the treated water is returned to the aquifer from which it came, to a nearby river or to be reused in a specific application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

To complete the description of the invention and in order to assist in a better understanding of its characteristics, in accordance with a preferred embodiment thereof, a set of drawings is attached in which, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following figures have been represented:

- Figure 1 represents a general view of the system of the invention for the regeneration of groundwater from an aquifer.

- Figure 2 schematically represents the system of the invention in an aquifer with groundwater, showing the contaminated water pumping system, the renewable electric energy generation system, the container with the ultraviolet LED lamp and the photocatalytic mesh.

Below is a list of the references used in the figures:

1. Bomb.

2. Duct.

3. Renewable electricity generation system.

4. Photovoltaic plate.

5. Wind turbine.

6. Filtration station.

7. LED lamp.

8. Photocatalytic mesh.

9. Treatment tank.

10. Firm ground.

11. Contaminated water.

12. Decontaminated water.

13. River current.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention develops a portable, autonomous, modular and scalable system for the recovery of contaminated aquifers and wastewater. It is based on ultraviolet LED technology, membranes coated with material with photocatalytic properties, such as titanium dioxide, and renewable energies for the activation of the system.

Figure 1 shows a view of the regenerative system of the invention, which includes a pumping system, with a pump (1) hydraulically connected to a conduit (2). The conduit (2) is normally installed in an excavation made, as a well, to have access to the contaminated underground waters (11) of an aquifer. The contaminated water (11) of the aquifer is raised by the pump (1) along the conduit (2) and transferred to a filtering station (6), to eliminate the suspended solids from the contaminated water (11), by means of pipes. The filtering station (6), already installed on solid ground (10), is hydraulically connected to a treatment tank (9), where the contaminated water (11) will be supplied. Once the contaminated water (11) has been adequately treated so that it has reached the minimum quality levels required, the decontaminated water (12) is discharged by gravity to the same aquifer, to a nearby river (13) or to be reused in some specific application, as appropriate. In cases where the contaminated water (11) is not underground, instead of a conduit (2) only a pipe may be needed, such as the one that connects the conduit (2) to the filtering station (6) or this one to the treatment tank (9).

The treatment tank (9) is closed and built with recycled plastic materials (TPU, TPE, PET-G, PLA) by 3D printing. The design of the treatment tank (9) is specific to each application, depending on the fluid dynamic needs of the process, determined mainly by the type of treatment to be carried out and the light exposure time required. A database with different reactor configurations allows for custom manufacturing.

On the one hand, the treatment tank (9), in any of its different configurations, incorporates an LED lamp (7) with ultraviolet light and a specific wavelength (200-400 nm), powered by a direct current source, configurable according to the working mode of the regeneration system, whether disinfection, decontamination or mixed.

On the other hand, the treatment tank (9) also incorporates a mesh (8) coated with a photocatalytic material. The mesh (8) is crossed by the flow of contaminated water (11) and, when illuminated by the ultraviolet light of the LED lamp (7), it performs the function of degrading contaminants. Therefore, the photocatalytic mesh (8) will preferably only be installed in those treatment tanks (9) that are going to be used in applications that require the use of work modes that include the decontamination function, and not those of disinfection, which can only be treated with the ultraviolet light of the LED lamp (7).

One of the objectives of the invention is that the regeneration system can be self-sufficient, so both the pump (1) and the LED lamp (7) are powered with electrical energy from renewable energy sources, either with photovoltaic panels (4) or with wind turbines (5), which are installed in the location of the aquifer to be treated, with the required power, which is usually small power.

In the case of applications in a WWTP or industry where there is already an installed power outlet, the modular design allows saving initial investment costs by means of power supply by an electrical outlet. The energy needs are determined mainly by the characteristics of the aquifer, which are key in the design of the pumping system, and the treatment requirements, which determine the energy needs of the LED lamp (7).

As an overall result, the system of the invention reduces the cost of disinfection processes and their environmental impact, as well as their impact on public health. It also reduces water demand, allowing the reuse of water that previously could not be used, and reducing the depletion of natural resources. Likewise, the system of the invention can be considered for complementary use in facilities where there is an over-exploitation of available resources and support is needed in the regeneration treatment of the facility.

Figure 2 shows the system of the invention in more detail with all the necessary components. In this way, the contaminated water pumping system can be seen, represented by a pump (1), the renewable electricity generation system (3), which can incorporate photovoltaic panels (4), a wind turbine (5) or both, and a treatment tank (9) that incorporates an ultraviolet LED lamp (7) and a TiO2 photocatalytic mesh (8).

Depending on the size of the aquifer or the volume of contaminated water (11) to be regenerated, the system may include more than one conduit (2), all of which may be connected to the same pump (1) and filtering station (6), each conduit (2) may be connected to its respective pump (1) and a common filtering station (6), or each pump (1) may be connected to a filtering station (6). The system may also include a plurality of wind turbines (5) and/or photovoltaic panels (4). Likewise, a single treatment tank (9) with several LED lamps (7) and several photocatalytic meshes (8) or several treatment tanks (9), each with its corresponding LED lamp (7) and photocatalytic mesh (8), may also be included.

Finally, it should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the embodiment described herein. Other configurations may be made by those skilled in the art in light of the present description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims (4)

1. - Disinfection and decontamination system for waste water and contaminated aquifers comprising a pump (1), configured to send contaminated water (11) to a filtering station (6), in hydraulic communication with a treatment tank (9) incorporating an LED lamp (7) of ultraviolet light and wavelength configurable according to the treatment needs and a mesh (8), made of rigid material coated with a photocatalytic material, in contact with the contaminated water (11), the system being characterized in that it comprises a renewable electrical energy generation system (3), such that it is portable, autonomous, modular and scalable depending on the aquifer to be decontaminated. 2. - Disinfection and decontamination system for wastewater and contaminated aquifers, according to claim 2, characterized in that the photocatalytic material is titanium dioxide. 3. - Disinfection and decontamination system for waste water and contaminated aquifers, according to claim 4, characterized in that the renewable electric energy generation system (3) comprises at least one element to be selected from a photovoltaic panel (4), a wind turbine (5) and a combination of both. 4. - Disinfection and decontamination system for waste water and contaminated aquifers, according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a conduit (2) for access to groundwater through which the pump (1) directs the contaminated water (11) to the filtering station (6).