The pilot-plant can directly collect the effluent from the canal
placed between the sedimentation tanks and the sand
filters of the
Nosedo WWTP using a submersible pump (0–5000 L/h). The
installation site of the pilot-plant allows to test a clarified effluent
and to avoid the risk that suspended solids cannot only
compromise the
filtration capability of bivalves but also cause
the animal death due to gill occlusion. Moreover, the pilot-plant
position into the Nosedo WWTP guaranteed the lack of any
possible accidental release of D. polymorpha specimens into the
surrounding environment because the sand
filters and the
following process of disinfection with peracetic acid stop and kill
any possible leaked organism.