Project description
Innovative tools to treat urban runoff
The effectiveness of urban wastewater treatment infrastructure in European freshwater protection is undermined by stormwater overflows, including urban surface runoff and combined sewer overflows, which bring significant pollutant loads into the aquatic environment. New ways to effectively mitigate pollution derived from urban runoff and sewer overflows are needed. The EU-funded StopUP project will define pollution pathways in urban catchments to propose targeted interventions. The project will implement advanced monitoring concepts, online sensors, and data processing and analysis to increase knowledge about pollutants. Moreover, it will develop and test innovative technologies for pollution prevention and deliver tools to support the selection and implementation of pollutant mitigation measures.
Objective
Major progress has been achieved in protecting European freshwaters through the successful implementation of urban wastewater treatment infrastructures but significant pressures still pose threats to the quality of the receiving water bodies. The recent evaluation of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive underlined that, in particular stormwater overflows including urban surface run-off and combined sewer overflows bring relevant pollutant loads into the aquatic environment. The pressure on water resources from those kinds of emissions is expected to aggravate through the impacts of global climate change with more frequent intense precipitation as well as more pronounced drought conditions. To address those challenges new ways in effectively mitigating pollution arising from urban run-off and sewer overflows are needed, providing effective load reduction, in a way affordable as well as acceptable to end-users and the society. The StopUP project will elucidate pollution pathways in urban catchments to enable targeted interventions through measures at source, retention and treatment. It will foster knowledge about emissions incl. pollutant release, transport and receiving water bodies through advanced monitoring concepts, online sensors and data processing and analysis. In the context of different case studies, innovative technologies for pollution prevention such as advanced retention soil filters for combined sewer overflow treatment which can be integrated better in urban areas will be further developed and tested. The tests will demonstrate integrated solutions including monitoring, treatment and control of diffusive pollution in different contexts concerning geographic, climatic and hydrological as well as socio-economic settings. Based on the findings, tools to support selection, implementation and operation of pollutant mitigation measures for end-users including environmental authorities, water boards/utilities, consultancies will be derived.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringwater treatment processeswastewater treatment processes
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental scienceshydrology
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencedata processing
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
52062 Aachen
Germany