Reverse osmosis membranes are industrial filters made by plastic that are commonly used for water treatment. Generally with this filters it is possible to produce high water quality from many water sources (sea, wells, river, wastewater facilities, etc.) The lifetime of the membranes is limited and varies depending on the pre-treatment of the industrial plant, cleaning treatments, water quality, etc. The main current management is landfill deposition, when standard cleaning procedures do not recover the membrane performance.
Transferring a sustainable alternative into the market that promote reuse and circular economy is being and exiting adventure. Raquel will show the path of taking the membrane regeneration technology from laboratory scale to the market, highlighting the lessons learned at each step.
Presenter
Raquel García Pacheco is CEO and co-founder of Ecomemb. Ecomemb is a spin-off from the University of Girona (UdG) and the Catalan Institute of Water Research (ICRA), dedicated to the sustainable regeneration of reverse osmosis membranes.
Raquel holds a degree in Chemical Engineering (2008) and a Masters in Hydrology and Water Resources Management from the University of Alcalá (2011). She holds also a PhD. in membrane technology from the same university (2017). In his doctoral thesis