Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UPWATER (Understanding groundwater Pollution to protect and enhance WATERquality)
Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2024-04-30
Groundwater (GW) is an important resource for freshwater and plays a key role in providing water supplies and livelihoods to respond to drought episodes. According to the European Environmental Agency, 26% of the European Union's GW bodies have poor chemical quality. Once the pollutants are detected in the GW, their harmful effects put the water supply and environment at risk for years, forcing the adoption of costly remediation measures.
The mission of the UPWATER project is to prevent and mitigate GW pollution by 1) identifying effective regulatory and legislative preventive measures devoted to minimise the release of chemicals at source, and 2) mitigating the pollution through development of novel engineered natural treatment systems.
In order to achieve these goals it will be required to:
• increase the scientific knowledge on the identification, occurrence and fate of pollutants in GW;
• develop and apply cost-efficient passive samplers to measure pollutants;
• identify and quantify the pollution sources, via development of source apportionment methods including Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis (CSIA);
• develop hydrogeological models for decision-making scenarios, considering multiple stressors and climate change projections;
• develop a framework for integrated risk analysis and impact assessment; and
• develop a participatory framework to analyse and prioritise the non-technological preventive measures and provide policy recommendations at local and EU levels.
Validation of the monitoring, mitigation and modelling solutions will occur in three case studies (DK, GR and ES), representing different EU climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. Expected outcomes include the adoption of preventive measures in the case studies, scaled-up bio-based solutions to treat the GW at case study level, the close-to-market development of the passive sampling devices and an updated EU chemical priority list.
The mission of the UPWATER project is to prevent and mitigate GW pollution by 1) identifying effective regulatory and legislative preventive measures devoted to minimise the release of chemicals at source, and 2) mitigating the pollution through development of novel engineered natural treatment systems.
In order to achieve these goals it will be required to:
• increase the scientific knowledge on the identification, occurrence and fate of pollutants in GW;
• develop and apply cost-efficient passive samplers to measure pollutants;
• identify and quantify the pollution sources, via development of source apportionment methods including Compound Specific Isotopic Analysis (CSIA);
• develop hydrogeological models for decision-making scenarios, considering multiple stressors and climate change projections;
• develop a framework for integrated risk analysis and impact assessment; and
• develop a participatory framework to analyse and prioritise the non-technological preventive measures and provide policy recommendations at local and EU levels.
Validation of the monitoring, mitigation and modelling solutions will occur in three case studies (DK, GR and ES), representing different EU climate conditions and a combination of rural, industrial and urban pollution sources. Expected outcomes include the adoption of preventive measures in the case studies, scaled-up bio-based solutions to treat the GW at case study level, the close-to-market development of the passive sampling devices and an updated EU chemical priority list.
• The best bio-based solutions were identified at lab scale and the construction of bio-based field pilots has been completed (DK and ES) or has started (GR).
• Passive sampling devices for monitoring of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), trace metals and viruses were calibrated and validated in the laboratory, with subsequent novel deployment in GW.
• Monitoring campaigns have been carried out in all case studies
• The MIX source apportionment code was amplified to be able to handle hundreds of different compounds (the new MIX is referred to as ´SOUPY´)
• Improved GW models for the 3 case studies and 1D or 2D reactive transport models for improved understanding of contaminant fate in the unsaturated zone and GW are being developed
• The UPWATER Cloud Ecosystem was designed. The Cloud ensures continuity of the research activities in UPWATER via a central database and allows data sharing with stakeholders and the general public.
• A data management plan (DMP) was written and updated midterm in the project. The DMP ensures that data in the UPWATER Cloud are accessible to consortium, stakeholders and the general public, under adherence of the conditions of use of the DMP
• A stakeholder engagement plan was written and implemented.
• First participatory workshops were held in GR and ES and best preventive measures to GW pollution were identified and ranked
• A multicriteria assessment (MCDA) framework for analysing pollutant pathways, assessing the risk of pollutants and the impact of mitigation solutions was designed and validated.
• An initial policy brief was prepared together with the projects of the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster.
• Passive sampling devices for monitoring of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC), trace metals and viruses were calibrated and validated in the laboratory, with subsequent novel deployment in GW.
• Monitoring campaigns have been carried out in all case studies
• The MIX source apportionment code was amplified to be able to handle hundreds of different compounds (the new MIX is referred to as ´SOUPY´)
• Improved GW models for the 3 case studies and 1D or 2D reactive transport models for improved understanding of contaminant fate in the unsaturated zone and GW are being developed
• The UPWATER Cloud Ecosystem was designed. The Cloud ensures continuity of the research activities in UPWATER via a central database and allows data sharing with stakeholders and the general public.
• A data management plan (DMP) was written and updated midterm in the project. The DMP ensures that data in the UPWATER Cloud are accessible to consortium, stakeholders and the general public, under adherence of the conditions of use of the DMP
• A stakeholder engagement plan was written and implemented.
• First participatory workshops were held in GR and ES and best preventive measures to GW pollution were identified and ranked
• A multicriteria assessment (MCDA) framework for analysing pollutant pathways, assessing the risk of pollutants and the impact of mitigation solutions was designed and validated.
• An initial policy brief was prepared together with the projects of the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster.
• The combined use of root mat-bioelectrochemical wetlands to mitigate surface water pollution infiltration had never hitherto been explored, and also not for GW deployment conditions. UPWATER laboratory results showed that the novel addition of zero-valent iron (ZVI) to wetland systems did not improve contaminant removal performance but that root mats with biochar and bioelectrochemical wetlands filled with biochar were the most effective setups.
A potential aquifer recovery in the ES case study by bio-based solutions is projected to reduce water transport from other catchments and water treatment with associated cost reduction of 800.000 EUR/year.
• Studies on contaminant removal using moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems from GW are scarce; known data are from waste water treatment or drainage water. UPWATER pioneers the testing of MBBR, biofiltration and bio-Fenton approaches for improving GW quality. Preliminary results from MBBR lab scale experiments show that the removal of pesticides by MBBR increases with iron additions to the feeding water. Current removal of MBBR + biofilter systems is 50-70 % but is expected to be further improved by optimizing the feeding strategy and the aeration of the biofilms.
• • The MIX source apportionment code has never hitherto been applied to consider a high number of compounds (max number of compounds is 20). UPWATER is pioneering this with the new code SOUPY (work in progress). SOUPY will revolutionize our capability to explain the chemical composition at each sampling point and will increase the precision of GW modelling tools
• Passive samplers for measurement of virus (VPS) were validated for GW monitoring, increasing the TRL level of these devices from TRL 3 to 6. This included the development of a method for virus quantification and characterization by massive sequencing in GW deployed VPS. The application of VPS in GW will facilitate the provision of an early warning on potential disease outbreaks like COVID-19 which can help inform decisions in advance.
• The CPS technology for measurement of contaminants of emerging concern is being calibrated and validated for GW monitoring. The current TRl is 7. The patenting of different CPS configurations has been initiated and a spin-off has been created to exploit the CPS.
If further optimization and testing of CPS is successful, the combined application of CPS, VPS and trace metal passive samplers (DGT) to GW bodies (market size = 15.930) instead of traditional grab water sampling, could save 1-2 M EUR/year.
Applying passive sampling methods to surface water bodies (market size is 146.510 water bodies sampled per year under the Water Framework Directive), instead of traditional grab water sampling, is estimated to save 20-60 M EUR/year.
The cost savings via implementation of passive sampling can also lead to more samples and more information for the same cost or increased-cost effectiveness and saving budget for other scientific activities.
• CSIA application to CEC, to understand their degradation, has hitherto been very limited, especially at field scale. UPWATER developed a unique CSIA method for seven CEC of major environmental concern.
A potential aquifer recovery in the ES case study by bio-based solutions is projected to reduce water transport from other catchments and water treatment with associated cost reduction of 800.000 EUR/year.
• Studies on contaminant removal using moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) systems from GW are scarce; known data are from waste water treatment or drainage water. UPWATER pioneers the testing of MBBR, biofiltration and bio-Fenton approaches for improving GW quality. Preliminary results from MBBR lab scale experiments show that the removal of pesticides by MBBR increases with iron additions to the feeding water. Current removal of MBBR + biofilter systems is 50-70 % but is expected to be further improved by optimizing the feeding strategy and the aeration of the biofilms.
• • The MIX source apportionment code has never hitherto been applied to consider a high number of compounds (max number of compounds is 20). UPWATER is pioneering this with the new code SOUPY (work in progress). SOUPY will revolutionize our capability to explain the chemical composition at each sampling point and will increase the precision of GW modelling tools
• Passive samplers for measurement of virus (VPS) were validated for GW monitoring, increasing the TRL level of these devices from TRL 3 to 6. This included the development of a method for virus quantification and characterization by massive sequencing in GW deployed VPS. The application of VPS in GW will facilitate the provision of an early warning on potential disease outbreaks like COVID-19 which can help inform decisions in advance.
• The CPS technology for measurement of contaminants of emerging concern is being calibrated and validated for GW monitoring. The current TRl is 7. The patenting of different CPS configurations has been initiated and a spin-off has been created to exploit the CPS.
If further optimization and testing of CPS is successful, the combined application of CPS, VPS and trace metal passive samplers (DGT) to GW bodies (market size = 15.930) instead of traditional grab water sampling, could save 1-2 M EUR/year.
Applying passive sampling methods to surface water bodies (market size is 146.510 water bodies sampled per year under the Water Framework Directive), instead of traditional grab water sampling, is estimated to save 20-60 M EUR/year.
The cost savings via implementation of passive sampling can also lead to more samples and more information for the same cost or increased-cost effectiveness and saving budget for other scientific activities.
• CSIA application to CEC, to understand their degradation, has hitherto been very limited, especially at field scale. UPWATER developed a unique CSIA method for seven CEC of major environmental concern.