LaundReCycle South Africa

A Water- and Energy Self-sufficient Laundromat

At a glance

Project leader : Devi Bühler
Deputy of project leader : Prof. Dr. Ranka Junge
Project team : Nadine Antenen, Matthias Frei, Bernard Wessels
Project budget : CHF 300'000
Project status : completed
Funding partner : EU and other international programmes (REPIC)
Project partner : Water Rescue, Khulisa Social Solutions
Contact person : Devi Bühler

Description

Day Zero - that's how the day was called when the city of Cape Town, Sout Africa would run out of water during the water crisis in 2018. Only due to strict water-saving regulations, Day Zero was avoided. Since then, it is clearer than ever; South Africa needs urgent investments in infrastructure and the development of new solutions. This is where the project LaundReCycle comes in. In cooperation with the South African partners, the research group Ecological Engineering develops a water- and energy self-sufficient Laundromat. The system does not require any power, fresh- or wastewater connection. Within the resource-efficient treatment process, the wastewater of the washing machine is filtered, skimmed, biologically cleaned and directly reused for the next laundry. Water losses are compensated with rainwater. The energy for the washing machine and pumps is supplied by solar power. As part of the federally funded REPIC project, the goal is to further develop this innovation in South Africa towards a marketable solution.

Further information

Publications

Bühler, Devi; Barmettler, Regina,

2023.

LaundReCycle : a water- and energy self-sufficient laundromat.

Wädenswil:

ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-28581
Bühler, Devi; Antenen, Nadine; Frei, Matthias; Koller, Christoph; Rousseau, Diederik P. L.; Schönborn, Andreas; Junge, Ranka,

2021.

Towards water and energy self-sufficiency : a closed-loop, solar-driven, low-tech laundry pilot facility (LaundReCycle) for the reuse of laundry wastewater.

Circular Economy and Sustainability.

1(3), pp. 1037-1051.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00077-2
Bühler, Devi; Antenen, Nadine; Frei, Matthias; Koller, Christoph; Junge, Ranka,

2020.

Towards water and energy self-sufficiency : a closed-loop, low-tech laundry pilot facility (LaundReCycle) for the reuse of laundry wastewater.

In:

Closed Cycles and the Circular Society : The Power of Ecological Engineering, Online, 2-4 September 2020.

Available from: https://closedcycles2020.ch
Bühler, Devi; Antenen, Nadine,

2020.

Waschen für die Wissenschaft.

IUNR Magazin.

2020(1), pp. 14-15.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-19919

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