The WaterProof project proposes a resource efficient solution convert CO2 emissions from waste(water) processing into green consumer products. At the heart of the WaterProof concept is an electrochemical process that converts CO2, originating from waste incineration and wastewater processing, to produce formic acid. This reaction is paired with the generation of high-energy oxidants, which are used to remove persistent contaminants from wastewater thereby contributing to a clean water cycle with zero-waste. The energy to run the electrochemical process is provided by waste incineration facility. The formic acid is a feedstock for the production of Acidic Deep Eutectic Solvents (ADES). These ADES are used to extract precious metals from water treatment sludge and incinerator ash. Additionally, the formic acid is used for fish leather tanning to sustainably produce fish leather and will be tested in consumer cleaning products. The WaterProof technology results in a GHG reduction based on CO2 utilization, replacement of fossil feedstock and by industrial electrification. In the WaterProof project, a TRL 6 plant is constructed, including innovative downstream processing. The conversion of CO2 from wastewater treatment and the CO2 captured at a waste incinerator is demonstrated in two consecutive campaigns. To maximize impact of the WaterProof technology, life-cycle assessments and a full business case analysis are initiated in the early stage of the project to provide targets for technology development. A marketing and deployment strategy is developed to ensure social acceptance of the WaterProof technology. Besides the reduction of GHG emissions, WaterProof will have societal impact by, creating awareness trough interaction with policy makers and civil society and the creation of new jobs in innovative fields. By targeting an industry as essential as waste(water) treatment, WaterProof aims to create a concept that can impact society and climate on a big scale.

FIWARE is a smart solution platform, funded by the EC (2011-16) as a major flagship PPP, to support SMEs and developers in creating the next generation of internet services, as the main ecosystem for Smart City initiatives for cross-domain data exchange/cooperation and for the NGI initiative. So far little progress has been made on developing specific water-related applications using FIWARE, due to fragmentation of the water sector, restrained by licensed platforms and lagging behind other sectors (e.g. telecommunications) regarding interoperability, standardisation, cross-domain cooperation and data exchange. Fiware4Water intends to link the water sector to FIWARE by demonstrating its capabilities and the potential of its interoperable and standardised interfaces for both water sector end-users (cities, water utilities, water authorities, citizens and consumers), and solution providers (private utilities, SMEs, developers). Specifically we will demonstrate it is non-intrusive and integrates well with legacy systems. In addition to building modular applications using FIWARE and open API architecture for the real time management of water systems, Fiware4Water also builds upon distributed intelligence and low level analytics (smart meters, advanced water quality sensors) to increase the economic (improved performance) and societal (interaction with the users, con-consensus) efficiency of water systems and social acceptability of digital water, by adopting a 2-Tier approach: (a) building and demonstrating four Demo Cases as complementary and exemplary paradigms across the water value chain (Tier#1); (b) promoting an EU and global network of followers, for digital water and FIWARE (cities, municipalities, water authorities, citizens, SMEs, developers) with three complementary Demo Networks (Tier#2). The scope is to create the Fiware4Water ecosystem, demonstrating its technical, social and business innovative potential at a global level, boosting innovation for water.

The revised EU Drinking Water Directive promotes a risk assessment and risk management approach for securing drinking water supply in the context of climate change and increased pollution. However, this approach is challenged by insufficient information that is available to operators, especially in real time, on compounds and organisms of emerging concern, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, disinfection by-products, heavy metals and pathogenic micro-organisms. We argue that if drinking water treatment could leverage novel technologies and design philosophies, and more agile operational actions could be supported, drinking water supply systems could become more adaptable and robust without expensive infrastructural investments. In this context, ToDrinQ develops and tests a compendium of modular, complementary, innovative solutions (the ‘ToDrinQ Toolkit’) that provide new information and better support tools to operators and designers to adapt to (short- and long-term) changes in water quality, while obtaining high drinking water quality at the tap. ToDrinQ develops novel real time sensing and water quality monitoring technologies, innovative treatment systems (especially suitable for small-scale/modular, adaptable treatment plants) and interoperable decision tools that support resilient, evidence-based treatment plant design and improved overall water system operational awareness and response. The consortium is perfectly placed to achieve significant progress beyond the state of art, based on a research-technology alliance of leading universities and research institutes and innovative technology developers including deep tech SMEs. It is also ideally placed to maximise relevance and impact by grounding its innovations on diverse real-world cases through co-creation with five pro-active water companies (in the Netherlands, Greece, France, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic), and maximise outreach through the influential multi-stakeholder, network Water Europe.

Safe drinking water is paramount for the health and wellbeing of all populations. Unsafe drinking water can contain pathogenic microorganisms and/or chemicals that can make people immediately unwell or can potentially cause serious illness over prolonged exposures. Within the EU, water is extracted from surface and groundwater sources and treated to comply with EU drinking water standards under the Water Framework Directive and Drinking Water Directive. The water is then circulated through the drinking water distribution system (DWDS). During travel within the DWDS, water quality can deteriorate due to microbiological growth, chemical reactions, interactions with ageing and deteriorating infrastructure, and through maintenance and repair activities. Water utilities within the EU are administered at the local level, i.e. city or county region and while they adhere to the overarching EU directives governing quality, they can choose their own treatment protocols, maintenance procedures and hydraulic operations. Some DWDS actions such as flushing may serve to improve water quality, however, these can also adversely impact the drinking water system and cause instances of poor water quality or disease outbreaks. We propose to bridge the gap between science and practice, involving water utilities and researchers from multiple locations across Europe along with third-country expertise, to examine DWDS operational practices and use scientific research approaches to better understand the water quality impact of different interventions to develop a suite of best practices which can be shared to ensure that the EU’s water remains clean and safe. We have assembled a multi-disciplinary, cross sectoral consortium to address various aspects of DWDS practices including flushing, chlorination and system maintenance.

The overall objective of WIDER UPTAKE is to co-develop a roadmap for widespread implementation of water smart symbiotic solutions for wastewater reuse and resource recovery, based on the principles of circular economy. WIDER UPTAKE will demonstrate innovative solutions that optimize water reuse, resource recovery and energy utilisation where market utilisation of the recovered resource(s) is achieved through a symbiosis between the utility and industry. The cases will provide applied knowledge on operationalization of the solutions, shared and further co-developed in a community of practice. The demonstrations are: - Reuse of wastewater for urban agriculture, Ghana. - Fertiliser and soil improver by wastewater resource recovery, Norway. - Reuse of wastewater for greening of urban areas, Czech Republic. - Reuse of wastewater for irrigation in agricultural industry, Italy. - Production of new bio-composite material by water resource recovery, Netherlands. WIDER UPTAKE's hypothesis is that the barriers for wider uptake of water-smart solutions are not only technological but also of organizational, regulatory, social and economic character. WIDER UPTAKE will identify and demonstrate common measures for wider uptake through activities on 'Monitoring and control of health and quality risks', 'Circular-economy and efficiency potential', 'Governance and business models for industrial symbiosis' and 'Measuring water smartness and progress towards SDG'. WIDER UPTAKE includes demonstrations of wastewater reuse for agriculture and urban greening, which also reduces the impact of warming from climate change. WIDER UPTAKE also comprises cases with phosphorus recycling, biogas and biochar utilisation, and production of bio-composites for manufacturing materials with resources recovered from the whole water cycle, which demonstrates the upcycling of the resources from wastewater to marketable products.