Marco Cremona will be awarded with the Energy Globe Award in Prague on April 14 for the Hoter project involving the development of an innovative wastewater recycling process for hotels.

He has developed this project in coordination with the management of the Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort & Spa.

Ing. Cremona graduated as a mechanical engineer from the University of Malta in 1992 and has since then been gradually focusing on environmental technologies such as wastewater treatment and water recycling, groundwater protection and renewable energy production from organic waste and wastewater (i.e. biogas generation).

The sewage treatment plant at Radisson SAS Golden Sands resort and Spa has been in operation since August 2005, and to date, more than 90,000 tonnes of sewage have been treated. The water produced is reused for flushing of water cisterns and for irrigation of the gardens within the resort. Additionally, 25 per cent of the water produced is donated to the Parks Department for use in local forestation projects. As much as €280,000 was invested in this plant to benefit the environment - not only because water is being reused and recycled, but also because the demand on the aquifer is reduced while both sea and air pollution are curbed.

The technology adopted to treat water is an aerobic biological process. This process has proved to be very effective and efficient in terms of water recovery as well as sludge produced.

The Hoter project is a research project that aims to improve on the existing sewage treatment process and recycles up to 80 per cent of the water used on the premises, with fewer discharges into the environment. This pilot project tested at the Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort & Spa has had excellent results to date.

The Hoter project is partly financed through the MCST 2006 R&I Programme. The other partners in the project are TTZ Bremerhaven of Germany and the Environmental Health Unit of the Public Health Department.