The NEWater project: natural and low-consumption solutions for the management of water supplies

NEWater “ Natural based and low Energy consumption unconventional solutions for the management of WATER sources ” (PCI2024-153445, MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/EU, 2024-2027) is a project funded by the WATER4ALL 2022 call. This initiative focuses in water resources management, emphasizing resilience, adaptation and mitigation in response to extreme hydroclimatic events. NEWater is coordinated by SAPIENZA University (Italy), with the participation of four other partners, including ICRA-CERCA. The project has a total budget of 1.06 M€ (financed with 0.86 M€). At ICRA the main researcher is Meritxell Gros with the participation of Gianluigi Buttiglieri and Sara Rodriguez-Mozaz. The ICRA budget is €232,000 (financed with €200,000). NEWater aims to develop innovative and efficient water treatment systems based on biological, physical and nature-based hybrid solutions that are economically and energetically profitable and on digital technologies that allow monitoring, control and support in decision making. NEWater’s solutions will close the cycle of materials, water and energy at a regional level, thus reducing the current consumption of water and energy. High efficiency in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is expected to be achieved (90% P recovery and a 50% reduction in WWTP operating costs). In addition, intelligent water services will be developed for the use of recovered resources in relevant public and economic activities. To guarantee replication potential, the validation of the NEWater system will be carried out in 4 “Water Labs” representing different relevant areas ( agricultural , rural , urban and industrial ) in large-scale operational environments. ICRA, involved in all WPs, will lead Task 2.1 (“Water Characterization and NEWater Framework Definition”) and WP4/Water Lab4. ICRA will study the reuse of non-conventional gray water (from kitchen and sinks) for the production of edible plants through solutions based on nature , specifically a vertical green wall. The combination of nature-based solutions with gray technologies will also be considered. Reference crops will be tested as well as crops adapted to dry climates. Emerging pollutants will be taken into account and the risk to human health will be assessed.