Pharem awarded 170 kEUR funding from the Baltic Sea Action Plan Fund

The Baltic Sea is a unique environment with its brackish water which give the region a unique but low biodiversity. The water exchange rate is slow and causes any pollutants released into the environment to have a long persistence. The combination of these two aspects results in an ecosystem that is more sensitive to micropollutants than other marine areas. By adopting Zymatic at WWTPs we can reduce the accumulation of micropollutants and contribute to one of the main goals of HELCOM; Baltic Sea unaffected by hazardous substances and litter.

Pharem has been awarded funding from the Baltic Sea Action Plan to demonstrate that the treatment of Micropollutants in wastewater treatment plants can be done with a new natural based technology, Zymatic. By facilitating enzymes, natural catalysts, Zymatic offers cost-efficient and sustainable treatment that meets the coming EU directive and its performance requirements.

“We have a great and unique water environment right at our doorstep in the Nordics, wherever possible we want to contribute in protecting that environment.” Says Martin Ryen, CEO at Pharem. “The topic of micropollutants in water has been going on for a long time and we are finally seeing a schism in the market with the new EU regulations. That does however not solve that most solutions on the market are expensive and unsustainable. We want with Zymatic, demonstrate a solution that not only meet the upcoming EU regulation, but also do it at a low cost and in the most sustainable way possible. That is the core of what we do here at Pharem.”

The project will install and operate Zymatic URBAN at Bergkvara reningsverk in Torsås. The municipality is connected to the Baltic Sea and allow us to monitor the release of micropollutants toward the Baltic Sea and the benefit we can see from the Zymatic solution. The installation and start of operation are planned for Q2/Q3 2024.

Zymatic URBAN is a standardized treatment solution specifically developed for URBAN (or municipal) wastewater treatment plants. It uses a mixture of enzymes designed to be broad and target many problematic Micropollutants. By immobilizing the enzymes to a sand-like material, the so-called Zymatic Sand, it can be used in the same equipment normally used for sand filtration or other MMF. This allows for low investment costs, short start-up time and simple operations.