Saving water through a closed-loop system for garment finishing

Textile manufacturing is one of the most water-dependent industries worldwide, consuming billions of cubic metres of water each year, and is also very polluting.  

Closed-loop systems allow water to be re-used as well as treated. This reduces the negative impact of industrial activities and helps to combat water scarcity. The EU-funded LIFE ANHIDRA project aims to reduce water discharges from the textile finishing industry by 92% and re-use up to 98%, thus saving resources and protecting the environment. By doing so, the project is facing the challenge of reducing chemicals for water treatment and finding innovative ways to re-use and valorize the fibers recovered from water.The project, coordinated by Jeanologia, develops a demonstrator installed on an industrial scale at the Portuguese textile finishing company Pizarro in collaboration with AITEX. It is based on a pilot closed-loop system that treats water, leaving it in optimal conditions for reuse in the garment finishing and washing processes, without any need for additional chemicals to treat the incoming water.  

By combining mechanical and ultrafiltration solutions and boosted by ozone technology, the main results will be water reuse in industrial washing machines during 60 operation days, saving up to 21,000 m3 during this period, and up to 123,400 m3/year in one industrial facility.  

Valorization of fiber wastes recovered from water “explores the feasibility of its transformation onto a pigment for printing and coating, the generation of biomethane or the calorific potential of cellulose-enriched wastes” - Òscar Calvo (LIFE ANHIDRA project manager at AITEX).  

The main technologies provided by the ANHIDRA closed-loop can be customized for the regeneration of wastewater and its reuse. Although the system is currently focused on the textile industry (finishing/washing), in the future it could be developed and implemented in other industrial sectors where water is used as a massive consumption resource. 

#WaterWiseEU campaign 

This story has been submitted by a partner of the #WaterWiseEU campaign. The EU-wide campaign focuses on water resilience, aiming to change the way we see, use and value water. Find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved.