| projects-351 |
690323 |
SMART-Plant |
Scale-up of low-carbon footprint material recovery techniques in existing wastewater treatment plants |
H2020 |
H2020-WATER-2014-2015 |
WATER-1b-2015 |
2016-06-01 |
2020-05-31 |
Completed |
€ 009 768 806.09 |
SMART-Plant will scale-up in real environment eco-innovative and energy-efficient solutions to renovate existing wastewater treatment plants and close the circular value chain by applying low-carbon techniques to recover materials that are otherwise lost. 7+2 pilot systems will be optimized fore > 2 years in real environment in 5 municipal water treatment plants, inclunding also 2 post-processing facilities. The systems will be authomatisedwith the aim of optimizing wastewater treatment, resource recovery, energy-efficiency and reduction of greenhouse emissions. A comprehensive SMART portfolio comprising biopolymers, cellulose, fertilizersand intermediates will be recoveredand processed up to the final commercializable end-products. The integration of resource recovery assets to system-wide asset management programs will be evaluated in each site following the resource recovery paradigm for the wastewater treatment plant of the future, enabled through SMART-Plant solutions. The project will prove the feasibility of circular management of urban wastewater and environmental sustainability of the systems, to be demonstrated through Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing approaches to prove the global benefit of the scaled-up water solutions. Dynamic modeling and superstructure framework for decision support will be developed and validated to identify the optimum SMART-Plant system integration options for recovered resources and technologies.Global market deployment will be achieved as right fit solution for water utilities and relevant industrial stakeholders, considering the strategic implications of the resource recovery paradigm in case of both public and private water management. New public-private partnership models will be explored connecting the water sector to the chemical industry and its downstream segments such asthe contruction and agricultural sector, thus generating new opportunities for funding, as well as potential public-private competition. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/690323 |
Urban water' |
| projects-352 |
101157743 |
FERRO |
FOSTERING EUROPEAN LAKES RESTORATION BY NUTRIENT REMOVAL, RECOVERY, AND REUSE: INTEGRATED CATCHMENT AND IN-LAKE SCALE APPROACH |
HORIZON |
HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01 |
HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-04 |
2024-06-01 |
2028-05-31 |
On going |
€ 004 311 937.50 |
Eutrophication is a major problem causing poor ecological status of European lakes with its severe impacts being enhanced by climate change. However, at the same time, eutrophication could be the potential solution to the depletion of global phosphate (P) reserves, threatening global food security. A vast amount of P and other nutrients are lost from the catchment and transported into lakes, making most lakes a nutrient-rich reserve, as observed by the frequent occurrence of massive, devastating algal blooms in many lakes. FERRO bridges the nutrient enrichment problem to the depletion of P problem to create a sustainable solution to both challenges by circular management. We will develop a next-generation lake restoration approach by combining targeted restoration techniques with nutrient recovery and recycling to achieve multi-benefits: improved ecological status of lakes, support a circular economy, climate adaptation, support food production, promote biodiversity, and boost ecosystem services provision. The multiple environmental and socio-economic co-benefits extend beyond the scale of intervention, supporting wider sustainability and accounting for social and economic ambitions.FERRO supports the natural recovery of lakes (after many years of nutrient enrichment) through four transdisciplinary pillars: 1) classification and prioritization of lakes for restoration (integrated in-situ and remote sensing-based techniques); 2) implementation of sustainable catchment-oriented solutions (biotechnology to prevent nutrient losses in agriculture and nutrient recovery at lake inflows and reuse in agriculture), 3) implementation of sustainable in-lake restoration solutions (nutrient recovery from lakes and reuse in agriculture); and 4) knowledge transfer. FERRO marks a major shift in how lake restoration will be done for ages. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101157743 |
Lake' |
| projects-353 |
285861 |
SMART-PADDY |
Smart on-line water salinity measurement network to manage and protect rice fields |
FP7 |
No data |
SME-2011-1 |
2011-10-01 |
2013-09-30 |
Completed |
€ 001 063 227.00 |
"Rice is the main crop in wet areas such as river deltas and is an essential tool in Europe in managing protected ecosystems. Irrigation water is a key factor in the production of rice and water quality has a major impact on crop yield as a result of tolerance of rice to factors such as dissolved salts. Rice is more water consuming than many other crops: in continuous flooding cultivation it takes about 6 times the water required by wheat. Due to increased water use in coastal areas, the sea intrudes the water table and seawater floods nearby fields during storms in the Mediterranean area. The result is increased water salinity, which reduces yield in rice crops and increases soil salinity. Nowadays, water condition is for the most part assessed by visual inspection of the crops and, when excess water salinity is suspected, fields are irrigated by flooding them. In areas where water salinity is endemic, rice paddies are continuously irrigated with river water to reduce water salinity. This is a remedial solution that requires enormous volumes of water and considerable energy to pump water.Water salinity can be accurately determined by measuring its electrical conductivity (EC). Measuring EC at the water inlet and outlet of each paddy field can help in monitoring the “washing” effect of irrigation. Moreover, measuring EC at points far from water inlets and outlets can help in assessing water salinity in a given paddy field and at different depths in drainage channels can help in managing water salinity in larger areas. This project will develop a wireless sensor network comprised of low-cost EC measurement nodes and an autonomous power supply based on energy harvesting, that will be capable of transmitting readings in real-time to a central server. This data will enable cultivators to effectively manage and protect of their paddy fields and greatly reduce flood water consumption." |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/285861 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Coastal waters', 'Urban water' |
| projects-354 |
222440 |
WATER-BEE |
Low cost, easy to use Intelligent Irrigation Scheduling System |
FP7 |
No data |
SME-1 |
2008-10-01 |
2010-09-30 |
Completed |
€ 001 470 255.00 |
Agriculture, the largest industry in the world, is also the biggest threat to the environment. According to the WWF, agriculture wastes 60% or 1,500 trillion litres, of the 2,500 trillion litres of water it uses each year - which is 70% of the world’s accessible water. One of the main culprits is inefficient water irrigation systems. Looking at the European context, 65% of total water consumption, irrigated agriculture now constitutes the biggest water consumer in the Mediterranean, where drought is becoming an increasing problem. If water is not managed more wisely, drought will become chronic and people will suffer more as water for other basics such as drinking, hygiene and cooking will become scarce. And this is not a problem that is merely confined to the Mediterranean region of Europe, as there are increasing reports of water shortages and drought in such regions as South East England, Germany and many other parts of Europe. Drought is currently having a devastating effect on the European economy, costing about €11 billion in Europe in 2003. In summer 2005, in Spain alone the agricultural sector lost more than €2 billion as a result of drought. In light of a real need to improve the efficiency of irrigation systems and prevent the misuse of water, the overall aim of this project is to develop an intelligent irrigation scheduling system which will enable irrigation farmers to optimise the use of water and only irrigate where and when need for as long as needed. The system will integrate innovations in the field of low cost wireless sensor networks, soil sensor technology, intelligent software in order to arrive at a solution that will be easy to use for farmers and that will be flexible and robust enough for its use in farm environments. Such an intelligent irrigation scheduling system would have a major impact in terms of water and cost savings and environmental protection. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/222440 |
Urban water' |
| projects-355 |
265972 |
WATERBIOTECH |
Biotechnology for Africa's sustainable water supply |
FP7 |
No data |
KBBE.2010.3.5-02 |
2011-08-01 |
2014-01-31 |
Completed |
€ 001 264 465.80 |
More than water scarcity, diseases and civil wars, Africa is also the least wealthy continent, in terms of economic and financial resources. These combined and tightly linked problems have led to a restricted range of choices, affordable for African countries, to deal particularly with the water issue, as a major topic. Polluted water treatment before use has been their almost unique solution to deal with a growing water scarcity. The treatment of water and elimination of pollutants, mainly pathogenic organisms, xenobiotics and heavy metals, although itself presents significant challenges, is crucial for human health and environmental considerations. However, most regions in developing countries cannot afford the costs of advanced and specialized systems.Numerous water cleaning methods are based in natural, plants or micro-organisms, biochemical processes. Biotechnology is a useful tool that is delivering improved products and process for environmental sustainability, and promises a range of benefits to manage the industrial WW economically and effectively around the world. Some biotechnological techniques are quite sophisticated but others are simple, cost effective and adapted to local conditions and resources of developing countries.These natural biological treatment systems include lagooning, land treatment, phytodepuration, or constructed wetlands systems. They can be applied as secondary or tertiary purification treatment, allowing the removal of pathogenic microorganisms and the degradation of the organic pollutants, so that waste water can be recycled for irrigation and domestic use and hence reduce the pressure on the hydric resources. Other biotechnological techniques to be taken into account within this proposal are biofiltration, membrane bioreactors and algae and other aquatic crops’ application for wastewater purification. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/265972 |
Wetlands', 'Urban water' |
| projects-356 |
308339 |
DEMEAU |
Demonstration of promising technologies to address emerging pollutants in water and waste water |
FP7 |
No data |
ENV.2012.6.5-2 |
2012-09-01 |
2015-08-31 |
Completed |
€ 004 613 591.60 |
The water and waste water sector is facing tremendous challenges to assure safe, cost-effective and sustainable water supply and sanitation services. DEMEAU promotes the uptake of knowledge, prototypes and practices from previous EU research enabling the water cycle sector to face emerging pollutants and thus securing water and waste water services and public health. The project exploits four groups of promising technologies from previous EU research: Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), hybrid ceramic membrane filtration, hybrid advanced oxidation processes, bioassays. Exploitation takes place through action research with universities, research institutions, innovative SME’s, launching water utilities and policy makers.Essential in the DEMEAU approach is the cooperation with water utilities that have committed to act as launching customer for the selected technologies. Existing and improved performance assessment methodologies will be used to benchmark the novel technologies against existing ones. This is to demonstrate the suitability and cost-effectiveness of the demonstrated technologies. Demonstration sites at launching utilities act as transfer points for the technologies and will generate market opportunities for the SME’s involved.To foster a broader impact and market penetration of the technologies, DEMEAU seeks cooperation with relevant policy makers, regulators and standardization bodies on Member State and European level in order to address barriers and promoters for the implementation.A considerable percentage (39%) of the total requested EC contribution is allocated to SME’s. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/308339 |
Urban water', 'Groundwater' |
| projects-357 |
606865 |
INFORM |
Improved monitoring and forecasting of ecological status of European INland waters by combining Future earth ObseRvation data and Models |
FP7 |
No data |
SPA.2013.1.1-07 |
2014-01-01 |
2017-12-31 |
Completed |
€ 002 609 191.52 |
INFORM aims to develop novel and improved user-driven products for inland water quality monitoring by using innovative methods integrated into biogeochemical models which fully exploit the capabilities of upcoming earth observation missions. Remote sensing is dramatically underutilized for the monitoring of inland waters mainly due to the complexity of these waters, the lack of adequate analysis methods allowing to deal with this complexity and the lack of adequate low-cost EO data for the often small or irregular shaped water bodies. INFORM aims to fill this gap by the development of new analysis methods and products for several upcoming satellites (e.g. Sentinel-2, Sentinel-3, EnMAP) which will provide a wealth of new data at increased spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. The broader spectral coverage towards the UV and SWIR will be exploited e.g. to improve atmospheric correction and TSM retrieval in turbid waters and improve the retrieval of yellow matter. Hyperspectral signatures will be exploited by new analysis methods to derive e.g. phytoplankton functional types and their percentage in the total biomass and discrimate between macrophyte species. To develop these products, a large suite of in-situ and airborne hyperspectral images of European inland waters is already available for INFORM. The APEX hyperspectral airborne sensor with new in-situ measurements will be used for simulation of the upcoming satellite missions, algorithm development and product validation. INFORM products will be used as input and for calibration of models which simulates the dynamics of nutrients, phytoplankton, including phytoplankton types and dissolved oxygen. End-user interaction will steer new data gathering and algorithm development to guarantee uptake of INFORM products by modelers, water managers and policy makers. Validated INFORM RS-model products will form a basis for future GMES products to assess e.g. the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/606865 |
Lake', 'Rivers and estuaries', 'Wetlands', 'Urban water' |
| projects-358 |
329349 |
PROTEUS |
"new PROcess models to simulaTE, benchmark and control Urban wastewater treatment Systems" |
FP7 |
No data |
FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF |
2013-05-01 |
2015-04-30 |
Completed |
€ 000 221 154.60 |
"The objective of this project is to develop a new set of mathematical models describing some of the new focus areas/challenges that wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are facing nowadays. These new focus areas/challenges include nutrient recycling & recovery, micropollutant & eco-toxicity removal and energy recovery & greenhouse gases minimization. The most innovative part of the project will rely on finding new ways to operate these facilities satisfying the new necessities by means of developing, implementing and simulating novel (plant-wide) control strategies / operational procedures. In order to avoid unbiased comparisons a new benchmarking procedure will be proposed. This procedure will comprise a pre-defined plant layout, simulation models, influent loads, test procedures and evaluation criteria. Finally, the study will be complemented with a multi-criteria decision module that will rank the different technological solution taking into account multiples aspects at the same time. The project will be hosted in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark but with numerous collaborations amongst other research centres and specialized Task Groups of the International Water Association. One of the main outcomes of the project will be a software package that will be used decision support tool, which will be (freely) distributed to water professionals, process managers and environmental engineers." |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/329349 |
Urban water' |
| projects-359 |
604241 |
NAPES |
NAPES - Next Generation Analytical Platforms for Environmental Sensing |
FP7 |
No data |
NMP.2013.1.2-1 |
2013-12-01 |
2017-05-31 |
Completed |
€ 004 538 907.18 |
GOALS:The current state-of-the-art for autonomous environmental instruments monitoring the chemical and biological status of our water is based on flow systems that employ conventional approaches to sample/liquid handling, which makes them prohibitively expensive (often >€20K per unit) in terms of up-scaling deployments. This project will investigate ways to deliver revolutionary advances in liquid/sample handling combined with new approaches to performing sensitive in-situ analytical measurements. Our goal is to drive down the unit cost of these instruments by orders of magnitude to levels that can create a tipping point, at which the technology becomes ubiquitous.OUTCOMES:•Novel technologies that will contribute significantly to the realization of next generation autonomous analytical instruments for distributed environmental monitoring.•New services based on the information generated by these instruments in real deployment scenarios.•Photoactuated polymer valve structures fully integrated within microfluidic channels•Highly sensitive detector integrated with microfluidics sample preparation•Photocontrolled functions such as filtering, preconcentration, uptake and release, surface activation/passivationPrototype components will be integrated with existing autonomous sensing devices, and after lab based trials deployed at wastewater treatment plants and in the general environment. This strategy will enable risk to be managed by testing the novel biomimetic fluid handling components with existing detectors (e.g. colorimetric methods for nutrients). In a similar manner, a novel E coli sensor will be assessed using validated fluid handling technologies in the existing devices. This strategy will allow the biomimetic fluid handling and advanced detector elements of the research programme to advance independently, or collaboratively, depending on progress. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/604241 |
Urban water' |
| projects-360 |
262255 |
GLOWASIS |
A collaborative project aimed at pre-validation of a GMES Global Water Scarcity Information Service |
FP7 |
No data |
SPA.2010.1.1-04 |
2011-01-01 |
2013-03-31 |
Completed |
€ 002 983 402.00 |
The main objective of the proposed project GLOWASIS is to pre-validate a GMES Global Service for Water Scarcity Information. In European and global pilots on the scale of river catchments, it will combine in-situ and satellite derived water cycle information and more government ruled statistical water demand data in order to create an information portal on water scarcity. This portal will be made interoperable with the WISE-RTD portal. More awareness for the complexity of the water scarcity problem will be created and additional capabilities of satellite-measured water cycle parameters can be promoted, but also directly matched to user requirements. By creating the user-scientist community, GLOWASIS will guide earth observation scientists to efficient innovation for the specific purpose of water scarcity assessment and forecasting.By linking water demand and supply in three pilot studies with existing systems (EDO and PCR-GLOBWB) for medium- and long-term forecasting in Europe, Africa and worldwide, GLOWASIS’ information will contribute both in near-real time reporting for emerging drought events as well as in provision of climate change time series. By combining complex water cycle variables, governmental issues and economic relations with respect to water demand, GLOWASIS will aim for the needed streamlining of the wide variety of important water scarcity information. Infrastructure is set up for dissemination and inclusion of current and future innovative and integrated multi-purpose products for research & operational applications.The service will use data from GMES Core Services LMCS Geoland2 and Marine Core Service MyOcean (e.g. land use, soil moisture, soil sealing, sea level), in-situ data from GEWEX’ initiatives (i.e. International Soil Moisture network), agricultural and industrial water use and demand (statistical – AQUASTAT, SEEAW and modelled) and additional water-cycle information from existing global satellite services. |
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/262255 |
Rivers and estuaries', 'Urban water', 'Coastal waters' |
