Project Overview
The WATERSENS project aims to demonstrate the benefits of six DWM technologies and provide an integrated decision framework to help water authorities and stakeholders select, design, and integrate these systems. The selected technologies cover diverse water resources and uses, addressing various geographic and economic contexts. They include floating wetlands for wastewater and stormwater treatment, biofilters for river pollution removal, phototrophic bacteria and biofilters for urban wastewater, green walls for greywater treatment, and green roofs and cisterns for stormwater collection. Quality control procedures will be followed, and emerging contaminants will be characterized.
The impacts will be evaluated through LCA, LCC, and social LCA, supported by a risk management model to provide data-driven evidence of the benefits. WATERSENS will also identify barriers in different regions and propose a governance framework based on a cost-benefit analysis and the evaluation of administrative challenges. This will be integrated into a Decision Support System (DSS) platform, driven by AI, which will also include a DWM catalogue, GIS tools, and climate change models, aiding water management stakeholders in making informed decisions.
WATERSENS validates its solutions in Aragon, Cantabria and Extremadura in Spain, Franschhoek in South Africa, Lisbon in Portugal and Naxos in Greece.
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Project Objectives
- Demonstrate the benefits of innovative NbS decentralised approaches for water and wastewater treatment and reuse in various geographic, climate and economic conditions considering current legislation and upcoming challenges (CECs) to ensure water security and minimise water pollution.
- Support the implementation of relevant EU policy needs: REGULATION (EU) 2020/741; Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Drinking Water Directive (DWD). A reference protocol for water quality monitoring will support the control and monitoring for conventional & CECs, recognising the more restrictive emission limits in the draft of the new Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD). The Circular economy action plan along with EU Biodiversity Strategy by 2030 and EU Green Infrastructure Strategy.
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Methods
- Water quality assessment & monitoring, sustainability analysis of the impacts and risk assessment at the DWM demonstrators.
- Assessment of socioeconomic parameters and governance framework by analysing current governance status and deploy new models for DWM integration and implementation; 3. Development of DSS platform for DWM implementation, following and management and promotion of their implementation.
Barriers
- Unavailability of technical reference standards of DWM specifically in NbS and lack in confidence in its effectiveness that prevent wider addoption.
- Current gaps in the long-term management of NbS systems.
- Public mistrust, stemming from a lack of awareness, combined with policymakers’ limited understanding and lack of experience in management matters, jeopardises the effectiveness of the policy.
Partners
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Funding
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101181779.
