Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MAR2PROTECT (PREVENTING GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION RELATED TO GLOBAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE THROUGH A HOLISTIC APPROACH BASED ON MANAGED AQUIFER RECHARGE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-06-01 al 2025-11-30
Climate and global change (CC and GC) risk human health, food security and biodiversity. To protect these essential areas, urgent action is needed to meet the 2030 zero pollution goals. MAR2PROTECT project offers a comprehensive solution to prevent groundwater (GW) contamination through a new-generation managed aquifer recharge (MAR). At the heart of this solution is a Decision Support System powered by Artificial Intelligence (M-AI-R DSS) that uses real-time monitoring placed in risk locations. This digital tool will monitor groundwater quality and detect threats caused by climate change and other environmental and human factors. Besides, the system will integrate input from innovative technologies, community feedback, and risk assessments to make better decisions about water protection.
The core of the MAR2PROTECT is this M-AI-R DSS, which combines technological solutions and social input, improving groundwater quality and quantity. To ensure it can be widely applied, the project is collecting data from seven demonstration sites across different climates, water sources, and pollution levels. Using this all-encompassing approach, MAR2PROTECT aims to significantly improve groundwater protection across Europe and beyond.
Community involvement is a key part of the MAR2PROTECT, working closely with citizens, policymakers, and experts to ensure strong action to protect groundwater. This collaboration also helps strengthen European policies on groundwater protection.
The project involves 11 partners, including universities, research organizations, and industry leaders from several European countries, as well as South Africa and Tunisia. Additionally, it benefits from collaboration with large water utilities and policymakers, which helps increase the project's overall impact.
The core of the MAR2PROTECT is this M-AI-R DSS, which combines technological solutions and social input, improving groundwater quality and quantity. To ensure it can be widely applied, the project is collecting data from seven demonstration sites across different climates, water sources, and pollution levels. Using this all-encompassing approach, MAR2PROTECT aims to significantly improve groundwater protection across Europe and beyond.
Community involvement is a key part of the MAR2PROTECT, working closely with citizens, policymakers, and experts to ensure strong action to protect groundwater. This collaboration also helps strengthen European policies on groundwater protection.
The project involves 11 partners, including universities, research organizations, and industry leaders from several European countries, as well as South Africa and Tunisia. Additionally, it benefits from collaboration with large water utilities and policymakers, which helps increase the project's overall impact.
MAR2PROTECT applies a holistic approach to the prevention of groundwater (GW) contamination related to global change (GC) and climate change (CC) impacts, based on a new generation of Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR). The main product of this innovation is the M-AI-R Decision Support System (M-AI-R DSS), which integrates technological data and societal engagement inputs through an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based framework to support improvements in both GW quality and quantity. This M-AI-R DSS merges technological and societal data from seven Demonstration Sites (DSs) to guarantee a high potential for replication and upscaling. These DSs were carefully selected based on their level of maturity, building on previous successful projects, and to capture a broad diversity of climatic conditions, water sources, pollution types, MAR schemes, and political and societal contexts. MAR2PROTECT partners carried out extensive research activities aimed at developing advanced and novel water treatment technologies for application before Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR), as well as the FERT-ROOT technology for the reduction of diffuse nitrogen and phosphorus contamination in GW. The most effective technological solutions were selected during RP2 and applied to pilot scale, further being tested and validated up to TRL 5 in the different DSs, while 15 societal engagement activities were implemented reaching more than 7000 different stakeholders. In parallel, MAR2PROTECT is guaranteeing strong and continuous engagement with national and European policymakers who, in collaboration with a Community of Practice (CoP) that has a solid collaboration with the International Advice Board (IAB), are contributing to strengthening the EU policy framework for the prevention of GW contamination.
MAR2PROTECT is set to achieve major breakthroughs in both technology and community engagement to increase the impact of their results. The project’s key technological advances include:
- Innovative and selective (bio)materials for water treatment designed to be cheaper, more efficient, and easier to regenerate. These (bio)materials are prepared from different waste sources using sustainable processes.
- Advanced technologies for biodegradation of micropollutants using aerobic granular sludge, membrane aerated biofilm reactors, and 3D-printed biofilms, which represent the next generation of wastewater treatment systems.
- Nature-based solutions such as constructed wetlands, re-vegetation, and specific salt-tolerant plants to help reduce pollution in estuaries and coastal waters through natural processes.
- Innovative surface water treatment with novel combinations of technologies, such as coagulation, flotation, filtration, and adsorption, to improve the treatment of surface water.
- Phyto-desalination using salt-tolerant plants to break down pollutants and absorb salt in wastewater.
- Innovative FERT-ROOT technology to design and minimize nutrient runoff from agriculture, which can pollute groundwater.
- Real-time monitoring with advanced sensors and tools for monitoring water quality to provide useful information to an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to prevent groundwater contamination.
- An innovative and AI-driven M-AI-R Decision Support System that helps decision-makers throughout the entire process, from design to operation, to optimize the managed aquifer recharge.
In addition, MAR2PROTECT is also pioneering new ways to engage communities and stakeholders to prevent groundwater contamination through innovative multi-stakeholder approaches.
- Innovative and selective (bio)materials for water treatment designed to be cheaper, more efficient, and easier to regenerate. These (bio)materials are prepared from different waste sources using sustainable processes.
- Advanced technologies for biodegradation of micropollutants using aerobic granular sludge, membrane aerated biofilm reactors, and 3D-printed biofilms, which represent the next generation of wastewater treatment systems.
- Nature-based solutions such as constructed wetlands, re-vegetation, and specific salt-tolerant plants to help reduce pollution in estuaries and coastal waters through natural processes.
- Innovative surface water treatment with novel combinations of technologies, such as coagulation, flotation, filtration, and adsorption, to improve the treatment of surface water.
- Phyto-desalination using salt-tolerant plants to break down pollutants and absorb salt in wastewater.
- Innovative FERT-ROOT technology to design and minimize nutrient runoff from agriculture, which can pollute groundwater.
- Real-time monitoring with advanced sensors and tools for monitoring water quality to provide useful information to an Internet of Things (IoT) platform to prevent groundwater contamination.
- An innovative and AI-driven M-AI-R Decision Support System that helps decision-makers throughout the entire process, from design to operation, to optimize the managed aquifer recharge.
In addition, MAR2PROTECT is also pioneering new ways to engage communities and stakeholders to prevent groundwater contamination through innovative multi-stakeholder approaches.