Among the available freshwater resources, groundwater (GW) plays a key role in providing water supplies and livelihoods to respond the pronounced water scarcity. GW pollution by chemicals (organic and inorganic) and biological agents (viruses and bacteria) originating from human activities is a widespread worldwide problem. The scientific and technological goals of the UPWATER project are (1) to provide scientific knowledge on identification, occurrence and fate of pollutants in the GW with cost-efficient sampling methods based on passive samplers for chemicals and pathogens; (2) to develop sources apportionment methods to identify and quantify the pollution sources, including Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis (CSIA) and (3) to validate and assess the performance of bio-based engineered natural treatment systems designed as mitigation solutions. The monitoring and mitigation solutions will be validated in 3 case studies (DK, GR and ES), representing different EU climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. The existing hydrogeological models will be updated with innovative water quality modelling tools, allowing the simulation of decision-making scenarios under multiple stressors and climate change projections. The scenarios will also include the expected impacts of scaling-up the mitigation solutions and the adoption of other non-technological preventive measures devoted to minimise the release of chemicals at source (chemicals regulation, taxation, consumption campaigns, public procurement, etc). The exploitation of specific UPWATER results will lead to expected mid-term outcomes including among others: updating the EU chemical priority lists, scaling-up the pilot bio-based solutions to demonstration scale, the adoption of some preventive measures in the case studies and the close-to-market development of the passive sampling devices.

SCOREwater focuses on enhancing the resilience of cities against climate change and urbanization by enabling a water smart society that fulfils SDGs 3, 6, 11, 12 and 13 and secures future ecosystem services. We introduce digital services to improve management of wastewater, stormwater and flooding events. These services are provided by an adaptive digital platform, developed and verified by relevant stakeholders (communities, municipalities, businesses, and civil society) in iterative collaboration with developers, thus tailoring to stakeholders’ needs. Existing technical platforms and services (e.g. FIWARE, CKAN) are extended to the water domain by integrating relevant standards, ontologies and vocabularies, and provide an interoperable open-source platform for smart water management. Emerging digital technologies such as IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data are used to provide accurate real-time predictions and refined information. We implement three large-scale, cross-cutting innovation demonstrators and enable transfer and upscale by providing harmonized data and services. We initiate a new domain “sewage sociology” mining biomarkers of community-wide lifestyle habits from sewage. We develop new water monitoring techniques and data-adaptive storm water treatment and apply to water resource protection and legal compliance for construction projects. We enhance resilience against flooding by sensing and hydrological modelling coupled to urban water engineering. We will identify best practices for developing and using the digital services, thus addressing water stakeholders beyond the project partners. The project will also develop technologies to increase public engagement in water management. Moreover, SCOREwater will deliver an innovation ecosystem driven by the financial savings in both maintenance and operation of water systems that are offered using the SCOREwater digital services, providing new business opportunities for water and ICT SMEs.