B-WaterSmart will accelerate the transformation to water-smart economies and societies in coastal Europe and beyond. We will apply a large-scale systemic innovation approach to select, connect and demonstrate a tailored suite of technology, management and smart data solutions for multiple users and sectors, and create new business models based on circular economy and water-smartness. We bring together six cities and regions as living labs with high ambitions to address water-related challenges and opportunities – Alicante (ES), Bodø (NO), Flanders (BE), Lisbon (PT), East Frisia (DE), Venice (IT) – selected for complementarity of scale, users, sectors and challenges, and for opportunities of mutual learning, replication & upscaling through a network of followers already mobilised. We built each case around the actual problem-owner (water utility, municipality), a research partner, innovative solution providers and market-uptake partners (6 are SMEs), complemented by partners with specific crosscutting expertise (social sciences & humanities, IT, business development, water sector outreach). We will apply a participatory approach for co-creation & implementation of solutions through local Communities of Practice and a joint innovation alliance of problem owners, and develop recommendations for suitable governance models, regulation & policy instruments. We will deliver a novel framework to assess gains in water-smartness and sustainability at different scales. Our cases will demonstrate in real systems, at multiple scales, a range of promising technologies for water reuse/nutrient recovery, and smart data applications for more efficient, safe allocation & use of resources (water, energy, nutrients). For the apps, we build on FIWARE technology to enable interoperability and exchange across sectors, which is key for systemic change. All cases have defined criteria and target values to achieve by the project end and by 2040, and can build on synergies with other funding.

India’s water resources are under severe stress resulting from overexploitation and pollution. The Indian government has started the Namami Gange programme in line with the sustainable development goals (SDG), including the improvement of wastewater treatment. PAVITRA GANGA links directly to these programmes and builds on existing cooperation between EU/India, supported by national governments. The objective is to fulfil SDG6 by unlocking the environmental and economic potential of municipal wastewater treatment and reuse solutions for urban and peri-urban areas in India. By focussing on three pillars we ensure maximum impact: - People: we create social awareness through a participatory monitoring approach. We target social vulnerable groups by providing treatment solutions for open drains. We create a community of practitioners by the establishment of open innovation test sites and a training & learning network. - Planet: we focus on rejuvenation of the river by removing organic pollution, heavy metals and emerging compounds that have the biggest impact on Indian streams. We provide technology innovations to upgrade existing wastewater infrastructure and to add treatment systems to open drains, resulting in improved quality of receiving rivers. - Profit: we apply the principles of the Circular Economy and exploit the economic opportunities of waste-to-energy, water reuse and resource recovery. Solutions are cost efficient and require limited investments making them particularly suited for the Indian market. In collaboration with local stakeholders and supported by industrial partners we will set-up two pilot sites at the Barapullah Drain (New Delhi) and the Jajmau plant (Kanpur). The dynamics of a business and technology platform combined with a learning network will form strong Indian water professionals, in line with Skill India, while also training EU experts in understanding Indian challenges. This will accelerate the transition to an EU-India level playing field.

Wastewater treatment and management in Europe has a large potential for growth; however needs to be supported by education of a new generation of interdisciplinarily trained wastewater professionals able to face future challenges and implement wastewater-related directives in practice. TreatRec, with the participationof two academic partners (ICRA-Catalan Institute for Water Research and University of Girona) and two non-academic (ATKINS and AQUAFIN) identifies several pertinent technological gaps and knowledge needs around which we have built a research programme. TreatRec involves equally academia and industry with a clear aim of producing a group of young researchers capable of conducting high quality research, but also able to address industrial and societal needs and implement wastewater-related directives in practice. The five researchers will conduct their scientific projects in an environment that combines industrial excellence in the development, design, construction and management of wastewater treatment systems, with complementary academic excellence in a) hypothesis-driven research involving the improvement/upgrading of state-of-the art technologies and the deepening the understanding of fate and removal of emerging contaminants in wastewater treatment systems and in b) applied research involving the development of decision support systems which allow for the encapsulation of knowledge for further use in decision-making processes. As a general goal, academic and non-academic partners of TreatRec, including WWTP operators, engineers responsible for the design and a water authority which has experience in water policy implementation, a set of recommendations will be generated to provide guidance for decision-makers on upgrading wastewater treatment plants for future challenges such as microcontaminants removal and nutrient recovery from a sustainable perspective.

WalNUT aims to develop the necessary concepts and technological solutions to re-design the value and supply chains of nutrients from waste water and brine, while staying in line with the objectives of the EIP on Agrifood and Raw Materials. A wide range of technological processes (physico-chemical, electro-chemical, biological) will be validated in labscale. 5 pilot plants for the nutrient recovery from waste water and brine will be tailored by combining multiple process units selected from the pool of technologies studied at lab scale and from partners previous relevant projects. The pilot plants will target not only high nutrient recovery efficiencies but also minimisation of environmental impacts. Thorough quality assessment of the resulting products shall be made in order to establish a concrete view of their market positioning. The multicriteria evaluation of pilot plants performance as well as the use of LCA, LCC, sLCA, will lead to the efficient validation of the technologies reaching TRL 4-6. Also, the project aims to create and disseminate a new paradigm shift from waste water and brine treatment to resource recovery which is essential for EU to sustain industries and societies for the long-term. Public and scientific awareness of the project will be raised and all relevant stakeholders will be informed about the possible pathways for waste water and brine valorisation. The project will be implemented by a consortium composed of partners with varied and complimentary experience, qualifications, skills and perspectives including research institutes, technology providers and industrial partners involved in waste water management. The involvement of representatives covering the whole supply chain of waste water, brine and nutrient recovery will provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the full potential of waste water and brine as a raw material for biofertilisers production.

Major progress has been achieved in protecting European freshwaters through the successful implementation of urban wastewater treatment infrastructures but significant pressures still pose threats to the quality of the receiving water bodies. The recent evaluation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive underlined that, in particular stormwater overflows including urban surface run-off and combined sewer overflows bring relevant pollutant loads into the aquatic environment. The pressure on water resources from those kinds of emissions is expected to aggravate through the impacts of global climate change with more frequent intense precipitation as well as more pronounced drought conditions. To address those challenges new ways in effectively mitigating pollution arising from urban run-off and sewer overflows are needed, providing effective load reduction, in a way affordable as well as acceptable to end-users and the society. The StopUP project will elucidate pollution pathways in urban catchments to enable targeted interventions through measures at source, retention and treatment. It will foster knowledge about emissions incl. pollutant release, transport and receiving water bodies through advanced monitoring concepts, online sensors and data processing and analysis. In the context of different case studies, innovative technologies for pollution prevention such as advanced retention soil filters for combined sewer overflow treatment which can be integrated better in urban areas will be further developed and tested. The tests will demonstrate integrated solutions including monitoring, treatment and control of diffusive pollution in different contexts concerning geographic, climatic and hydrological as well as socio-economic settings. Based on the findings, tools to support selection, implementation and operation of pollutant mitigation measures for end-users including environmental authorities, water boards/utilities, consultancies will be derived.