Wastewater research from the University of Kentucky (UK) Center for Applied Energy Research may lead to cost-effective and practical technologies for reducing and managing wastewater, the school says. A $740,000 grant from the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory will help strengthen the University’s program.

UK’s wastewater research program seeks to intensify the traditional water treatment process, thereby lowering the cost for industry, said Xin Gao, senior research engineer at the center, and the principal investigator for the funded project.

The grant is for studying “intensified flue gas desulfurization (FGD) water treatment for reuse, solidification and discharge.” FDG removes sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gas at fossil fuel power plants and is an important environmental mitigation process, as it also “captures portions of heavy metals created during power generation, including selenium, arsenic and mercury,” according to University of Kentucky News.

If successful, the technology could significantly lower the cost for water treatment, GAO says.

The market for industrial water treatment equipment will experience a CAGR of 7.34% between 2017 and 2021, according to a recent report from Technavio.

The rise in industrialization will contribute to the growth of the market, owing to the increased demand for recycling water to mitigate the contamination by industry. The exhaustion of natural freshwater resources increases the need to recycle and reuse water through the implementation of various water treatment techniques. Industries utilize huge volumes of water for various processes and most of the industries worldwide have installed a water treatment setup to mitigate the ill-effects of contaminated water, lower operating costs, and reduce environmental footprints. But with rapid industrialization taking place, along with high dependence on clean water, these will be the major drivers for water treatment equipment in industry.