Prototype at Sečovlje Salina Nature Park in Slowenia

Salina Nature Park, Soline, is a former salt plain and the largest costal marsh wetland in Slowenia. The area is protected by the Ramsar and Barcelona Convention and faces an increasing number of visitors. The existing sanitaty infrastructure needs to be upgraded due to an increasing number of visitors and critical impact to the vulnerable environment. In dry summers the park also has to deal with potential water shortages. This is a typical situation at many tourist sites along the Mediterranean cost.

Prototype description

The planned SANBOX prototype, which will be established to treat the wastewater from the new toilet facilities at the entrance area, will follow the vision of zero emission and water and nutrient recycling. Jets™ vacuum toilets are low water consuming toilets providing the same comfort as conventional water toilets. The goal is to supply the toilets with water recycled from the hand washing facilities after treatment in a constructed wetland filter system. Thus freshwater consumption can be reduced to an absolute minimum. The wastewater from the toilets will be treated in a compost filter to remove solids and nutrients.

The following greenhouse evapotranspiration module will use plants and solar radiation to evaporate the liquid part of the wastewater. The goal is to obtain zero discharge into the vulnerable environment in the area. The material from the compost should meet the requirements for reuse in local agriculture.

Schedule:

July 2009 - May 2010	Developing of technology at the different Sanbox partners
June 2010 - July 2010	Installation and initial test
July 2010 - November 2010	Test and monitoring

Components foreseen for prototype and partners involved in its development:

Component	Involved partners
Constructed for greywater (wastewater washing facilities) recycling	Sia Norplast, Latvia University of Tartu, Estonia
Vacuum toilet system	Jets AS, Norway
Compost filter for blackwater (wastewater from toilets)	Jets AS, Norway Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Norway University of Ljublana
Greenhouse evapotranspiration system	Seecon GmbH, Switzerland Technologie Transfer Zentrum Bremerhaven (TTZ), Germany
Composting system for solid residues and recycling nutrients for local agriculture	Seecon GmbH, Switzerland Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB), Norway University of Ljublana

Flow chart for the planned prototype at Sečovlje Salina Nature Park