Project description
New methods to identify groundwater pollution sources
Groundwater pollution is a major problem that has many causes – from landfills and effluents released from industries or waste water treatment plants to leakages from petrol filling stations and fertilisers used on farms. The EU-funded UPWATER project is focused on prevention. It will test the effectiveness of different technological and non-technological measures to minimise groundwater pollution by acting at the source. Specifically, UPWATER will develop cost-efficient methods to identify and quantify the pollution sources. These methods will be tested in three EU countries (Denmark, Greece and Spain) with different climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. The findings will help policymakers update EU chemical priority lists, as well as preventive measures.
Objective
Among the available freshwater resources, groundwater (GW) plays a key role in providing water supplies and livelihoods to respond the pronounced water scarcity. GW pollution by chemicals (organic and inorganic) and biological agents (viruses and bacteria) originating from human activities is a widespread worldwide problem. The scientific and technological goals of the UPWATER project are (1) to provide scientific knowledge on identification, occurrence and fate of pollutants in the GW with cost-efficient sampling methods based on passive samplers for chemicals and pathogens; (2) to develop sources apportionment methods to identify and quantify the pollution sources, including Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis (CSIA) and (3) to validate and assess the performance of bio-based engineered natural treatment systems designed as mitigation solutions. The monitoring and mitigation solutions will be validated in 3 case studies (DK, GR and ES), representing different EU climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. The existing hydrogeological models will be updated with innovative water quality modelling tools, allowing the simulation of decision-making scenarios under multiple stressors and climate change projections. The scenarios will also include the expected impacts of scaling-up the mitigation solutions and the adoption of other non-technological preventive measures devoted to minimise the release of chemicals at source (chemicals regulation, taxation, consumption campaigns, public procurement, etc). The exploitation of specific UPWATER results will lead to expected mid-term outcomes including among others: updating the EU chemical priority lists, scaling-up the pilot bio-based solutions to demonstration scale, the adoption of some preventive measures in the case studies and the close-to-market development of the passive sampling devices.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computer security cryptography
- social sciences sociology governance taxation
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.2.6 - Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
HORIZON.2.6.7 - Circular Systems
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
28006 MADRID
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.