Wastewater treatment and desalted water can contribute to compensate the gap between available and needed water, and provide regular water supply throughout the year. FIT4REUSE, well aware of the existing baselines in different parts of the region, will contribute to tackle these challenges by providing sustainable solutions that are fit for the local scenarios.

The main objective of FIT4REUSE is to provide safe, locally sustainable and accepted ways of water supply for the Mediterranean agricultural sector by exploiting non conventional water resources, namely wastewater treatment and desalted water. In particular, FIT4REUSE will focus on innovative treatment technologies and on the use of non conventional water resources in agriculture and for aquifer recharge. Inclusion of partners from different areas of the Mediterranean region will enable FIT4REUSE to conduct high quality collaborative research and to produce of substantial results on a regional scale that fit local scenarios, and to start long lasting collaboration between participating institutions.

This project is part of the PRIMA programme supported by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 1823. It reflects only the author's view and that the PRIMA Foundation is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Project Results

OBJECTIVES

– Develop and optimise nature-based solutions, primarily constructed wetlands, for municipal wastewater treatment in order to produce a treated effluent that is suitable for reuse in irrigation according to required standards.

– Develop and improve innovative wastewater treatment technologies that will integrate bioengineered techniques and advanced nano-materials at sustainable cost-benefit conditions.

– Create and investigate a specific tailored combination of technologies developed and validated in the previous objectives to improve removal of pollutants (mainly pathogens and emerging contaminants) and achieve better and more sustainable treatment of non-conventional water resources according to local needs and standards.

– Enable wider use of desalted water in agriculture by reducing the costs of desalinisation technologies and providing a sustainable way for brine treatment and disposal.

– Study different drip irrigation technologies and practices in order to prevent negative effects (e.g. clogging) of non conventional water resources on the irrigation equipment or on the health of the farmers and final consumers and identify effects that they can have on soil quality.

– Improve process of aquifer recharge with treated wastewater and soil aquifers treatment (SAT), so as to optimise the method, preserve aquifer water quality and its ecological balance.

– Develop suitable guidelines to support wide adoption of water reuse safety planning in the Mediterranean basin, in order to minimise any potential threat and to support regulations and water policies.

– Analyse in an integrated way economic, environmental and social impacts of the solutions proposed in order to ensure their future applicability and sustainability.

– Understand the reasons for the low public acceptance and analyse the existing policies regarding safe use of non conventional water resources; offer solutions to increase public acceptance and enhance the use of treated wastewater and desalted water through a multi-stakeholder approach.

– Communicate and disseminate the results and findings to the general and professional public during the whole duration of the project, so as to maximise the project’s impact and allow further exploitation of the outputs.