The mayor of Arzignano Alessia Bevilacqua claimed an important turning point: “We need a new vision, based on research and innovation to guarantee a future of further development for our tanning district” Ing. Chiorboli’s reassured: “we will reduce the load of tannery sludge and dangerous pollutants”
The Experimental Plan will last about two years, at least until the end of 2022, aiming at new solutions to the problems affecting the disposal of tanning sludge produced by the Arzignano purification plant managed by ACQUE DEL CHIAMPO Spa. We are talking about an important project for the Consortium, operating in the homonymous valley since more than 40 years with ten municipalities in the same tanning area as shareholders: in addition to Arzignano, there are Altissimo, Brendola, Chiampo, Crespadoro, Lonigo, Montecchio Maggiore, Montorso Vicentino, Nogarole Vicentino and San Pietro Mussolino.
With headquarter in Arzignano and an area of 155 thousand square meters, ACQUE DEL CHIAMPO has a central role fully operating with the services of aqueduct, sewage, purification and disposal of sludge in landfills. Therefore, it is a point of reference for the local tanneries, among which 135 -almost their majority- are served by a drainage collection network connected to the industrial purification plant. Nevertheless, there are also other factors that make ADC a cornerstone at the service of the community and the economic world: we mention almost 200 employees, 10 million cubic meters supplied per year, of which 43% industrial and 57% civil; moreover, the industrial and civil aqueducts are respectively 19 and 900 km long, with the industrial sewer network equal to 40 km and the civil sewage system of 682 km. There is a separate economic management of the industrial and civil sectors, as if they were two different companies sharing technical skills.
Eng. Andrea Chiorboli Acque del Chiampo’s General Manager
We met Eng. Andrea Chiorboli, Acque del Chiampo’s General Manager. “We have started several experimental tests following an ambitious project that will lead to a decrease in the production of sludge both directly, at the purification plant, and indirectly, in the tanning companies. We will have at least three experiments that will concern the identification of suitable sites for the thermal treatment of sludge, a procedure that will lead to the valorization of the residue to produce electricity. The experimentation in the pilot plants will be carried out in an enlarged context on a regional, national and international scale. In the second phase we will focus on the tanning sector, dealing with the production cycle to reduce both the load of sludge arriving at the plant and the dangerous pollutants. We will test the possibility of recycling chromium, liming and the transformation of products that are now particularly polluting such as sulphides, the main responsible for odors, replacing them with other less impacting products. Furthermore, the recovery of the hair will be increased and, lastly, we will identify new ways for the external disposal of waste “. Important improvement interventions were also started on the Arzignano purification plant, for about 30 million euros by 2025: among others, the construction of a new oxidation tank, and the subsequent revamping of the current four tanks, obtaining renewed plants expected to be more efficient in terms of energy consumption and reliability. The new oxidation tank will come into operation by 2022, while the restoration of the other tanks by 2025, for a total cost of 15 million euros.
The new ozonation compartment is mostly innovative. It is possible to reduce the concentration of chromium and of the pollutant load in general of the industrial wastewater further and to significantly reduce the color of the final discharge; the work is in progress and its completion is expected by 2024, for a total of 13.5 million euros.
The new homogenization tank, number 6, will be used to treat rain water, as prescribed by the Water Protection Plan of the Veneto Region, worth 4.8 million, expected to be operating by 2024.
Alessia Bevilacqua, Mayor of Arzignano
“I am satisfied – adds Alessia Bevilacqua, mayor of Arzignano – because in autumn 2020 I asked ACQUE DEL CHIAMPO innovation and research plans along with solutions to the sludge problem. And the answer came with this Experimentation Plan consisting of about twenty items to be developed and concerning six basic issues: the reduction of the amount of sludge, the reduction of chromium, the recovery of the hair, the reduction of PFAS, the reduction of sulphides and the lengthening of life. I believe it is important for the future of the economy of our Valley and for that of the tanning sector that ADC continues to work on improving innovation and research in harmony with the defined objectives”.
“Currently – declares vice president Guglielmo Dal Ceredo -, the landfill no. 9 of ACQUE DEL CHIAMPO, the latest available one, is running out. For this reason, the project of an expansion of about 150 thousand cubic meters, that has been approved by the Veneto Region already, is underway, granting an extension of the useful life of this landfill and to have the time to conclude the experiments and develop the most significant projects. Parallel to this intervention, various tenders have been launched for the disposal of sludge in different sites at national and international level and therefore to reduce the disposals in our landfill in Arzignano “.
“There has undoubtedly been a change of pace in ACQUE DEL CHIAMPO – concludes Matteo Macilotti, managing director for the Environment of the Province of Vicenza and mayor of Chiampo -, because for the first time the Arzignano company finances an important series of experiments carried out inside factories in the theme of purification and recycling of sludge. To improve the quality of the mud, it is necessary to remove substances that are present through recovery systems and these experiments have the aim of improving the quality of the mud and decreasing its quantity. It is an operation that has a profound value from a practical point of view as well as from an ethical point of view, because they consider mud not only a waste but also a substance that can be recovered. We hope to put the trials into the system as soon as possible “.
www.acquedelchiampospa.it
Acque del Chiampo’s SLUDGE SOLUTION PROJECT: Research & Innovation Plan 2021 (rev. november 2020)
