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Understanding, monitoring, and remediating the spread of chemical, microbiological and plastic pollution in drinking water treatment plants

Project description

New methods for water purification

Water pollution from drinking sources jeopardises public health worldwide, with contaminants like chemicals, microbes, and plastics infiltrating treatment plants. Traditional monitoring methods often fail to detect these pollutants promptly. Remediation processes, while available, struggle to achieve comprehensive removal. With this in mind, the EU-funded NIAGARA project will develop real-time monitoring and innovative remediation techniques to ensure safe and sustainable drinking water for all. Specifically, it will design biosensors capable of detecting synthetic fungicides (used in agriculture to protect crops), as well as chemical compounds used in the production of plastics and found in various consumer products like water bottles, as well as pharmaceuticals. The project will also use advanced biofilters and UV/TiO2 photoreactors for effective pollutant removal.

Objective

"NIAGARA compiles all the necessary approaches to provide a comprehensive response to the phenomenon of spread of pollution (chemical, microbiological and plastic) from drinking water sources to human exposure, through the Driking Water Treatment Plants. These approaches and their solutions are:

(1) Real-time monitoring. NIAGARA will develop multi-analyte biosensors able to quantify simultaneously 4 highly concerning pollutants of very different chemical nature: BPA, imazalil, H. pylori and paracetamol/ibuprofen. Using pre-concentration units, detection limits will reach pg/mL for chemicals and 10-100 viable cells for H. pylori, which are below harmful levels for human exposure.
(2) Remediation. A removal and disinfection system based on a tandem formed by two IEDS biofilters (immobilized-enzymes degradation systems) and a UV/TiO2 photoreactor. With this solution, we will achieve total removal of the 4 analytes (concentrations below detection limits of water laboratory techniques) and a Total Organic Carbon removal of >70%, exceeding current State of Art. The DBPs formed will be identified, and their appearance mechanisms and toxicity will be predicted.
(3) A fast and cost-effective method for real-time monitoring of the propagation of these 4 contaminants using a hydraulic model that exceeds the performance of current methods (seconds vs weeks, > 60% accuracy).

These solutions will be validated up to a pilot scale (TRL=5) in a case study in the city of Valencia, in a DWTP, and using the drinking water supply system of district #9 (Jesús), with the participation of the Municipal Drinking Water Company, and accomplishing safety and sustainability-by-design.

Finally, the Communication and Exploitation plan has been specially designed to have an clear projection ouside EU to enhance its competitiveness in the water sector and to foster its position and role in the global water scene, with the participation of previously established EU and non-EU networks."

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01

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Coordinator

INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DEL EMBALAJE, TRANSPORTE Y LOGISTICA
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 969 863,00
Address
CALLE ALBERT EINSTEIN 1 PARQUE TECNOLOGICO DE VALENCIA
46980 Paterna
Spain

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Este Comunitat Valenciana Valencia/València
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 969 863,00

Participants (10)

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