ExpectedOutcome:
In line with the European Green Deal’s zero pollution ambition, successful proposals will contribute to halt and prevent pollution of freshwater and soils, and consequently also protecting biodiversity, as addressed by several impacts under Destination ‘Clean environment and zero pollution’, in particular “Advanced understanding of diffuse and point sources of water pollution in a global and climate changing context, enabling novel solutions to protect water bodies, aquatic ecosystems and soil functionality, and further enhancing water quality and its management for safe human and ecological use, while fostering the European position and role in the global water scene.”
Project results are expected to contribute to some of the following expected outcomes:
- A wider use of a better understanding and an enhanced knowledge base required to assess pollution sources, pathways and combined effects on drinking water systems, including forward looking approaches aimed to anticipate and prepare for future or emerging challenges.
- Implement advanced preventive and mitigating strategies and measures to protect drinking water sources, treatment and supply against harmful effects of global and climate change.
- Apply effective risk assessment and risk management strategies enabling early warning systems and delivering ready-made outputs for decision-making and governance.
- Exploit advanced, integrated and cost-effective water quality sensors and analytical methods.
- Deploy innovative and robust monitoring systems and real-time information on drinking water quality, from sources to supply.
- Disseminate and use a robust knowledge on the occurrence, persistence and degradability of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water with due consideration to operational parameters, chemicals, materials and biofilms interactions, including the pathways related to human exposure.
- Spread the use of advanced and cost-effective drinking water treatment and disinfection processes and technologies, including transformative approaches.
- Broad uptake of advanced knowledge, breakthrough solutions and innovative technologies to enhance competitiveness of the EU water sector and fostering the EU’s position and role in the global water scene.
- Increasing the EU scientific and technological base and guidance on measures to manage drinking water quality and evidence for policy-making, safety planning and implementation.
- Science and evidence-based implementation of the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals, notably the SDG 6 “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.
Scope:
The European Union policy framework has secured public safety and health objectives by the Drinking Water, Bathing Water and Floods Directives (EU, 1998, 2006, 2007), and the ongoing development and implementation of minimum requirements for water reuse. Despite the valuable output of implemented measures, some persistent problems are still a major, and sometimes unknown, risk factor for human and ecosystem health. Past contaminated sites and industrial activities managing hazardous chemicals, such as highly persistent compounds, together with agriculture and food production (pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics etc.), and household activities release a number of substances that individually or combined represent a concern for the safety of drinking water supplies. Detrimental effects of natural/human-made disasters and increasing water temperatures due to climate change could deteriorate the quality of drinking water sources by favouring the conditions for enhanced eutrophication leading to algal and cyanobacterial outbreaks as well as pathogen development or the spread of invasive species. Emerging concerns are also rising at the level of drinking water treatment and distribution, notably in relation to disinfection operations, materials and products, ageing infrastructure, biofilm growth and possible harmful effects of unintentionally formed by-products and metabolites.
Actions in this field should aim to expand the knowledge base required to identify, assess and prevent pollution threats (micro-pollutants, pathogens, toxins, algal blooms, etc.) and the combined effects of multiple stressors on water sources, including risk assessment and management, to protect drinking water preparation and distribution. Particular attention to extreme weather events and possible synergistic effects affecting hydraulic flows, temperatures and pollutants’ loads should be considered, whenever appropriate.
Advanced water quality assessment needs further development of sensors sensitivity, automated routine monitoring and fast analytical responses that fully integrate IT advances. Proposals in this topic should aim to extend the current analytical capacity to enable among other issues the detection of suspect and non-targeted pollutants, resulting in robust and reliable monitoring systems for consideration in future legislation. They should also consider the requirements of the revised Drinking Water Directive as regards catchment management.
Unintended disinfection by-products (DBP) and interactions with chemical reagents used for drinking water treatment (DWT), engineering and contact materials as well as the combined effects of biofilms formation are emerging as hazardous chemical risks that could affect human health. Proposals in this field should further extend the knowledge base of mechanisms and reactions leading to DBP formation by analysing raw water quality and precursors, as well assessing DWT operational parameters, including disinfection needs, methods and doses. Advanced DWT solutions should explore integrated systems coupling different treatment technologies and strategies enabling the optimization of the operational DWT effectiveness while removing DBP risks.
In general, the participation of academia, research organisations, utilities, industry and regulators is strongly advised, as well as civil society engagement whenever necessary, also aiming to broaden the dissemination and exploitation routes and to better assess the innovation potential of developed solutions and strategies.
If appropriate, applicants are advised to seek complementarities and synergies, while avoiding duplication and overlap, with relevant actions funded under Horizon 2020 calls[1], as well as targeted topics supported in the last Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe calls, addressing micro/nano-plastics, persistent and mobile pollutants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals and contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs), pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Whenever possible, proposals should consider already developed digital solutions for real-time water monitoring systems. Activities related to water reclamation and reuse, indirect potable use or alternative water sources are beyond the scope of this topic.
In order to better address some or all of the expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged.
In this topic the integration of the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) in research and innovation content is not a mandatory requirement.
Specific Topic Conditions:
Activities are expected to achieve TRL 5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
Cross-cutting Priorities:
Digital AgendaSocietal EngagementArtificial Intelligence
[1]Including access and use of data and information collected through long-term environmental monitoring activities supported by national and/or European research infrastructures.
