Project description
From waves to wells: tracking forever chemicals
Long-held beliefs that the ocean acts as a final sink for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are being challenged. Sea spray aerosols return these ‘forever chemicals’ to dune surfaces, where they infiltrate groundwater and threaten European drinking water supplies. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the LINGERS project aims to bridge knowledge gaps by explicitly modelling PFAS and the degradation of their precursors. By analysing monitoring data from the Haamstede field site, researchers will trace chemical transport from the surface to abstraction wells. This data will inform a site-specific 3D simulation tool, integrating reactive transport into existing groundwater models. LINGERS’s goal is to provide a scalable framework to help water utilities and decision-makers safeguard drinking water quality across Europe.
Objective
Sea spray aerosols (SSA) have been identified as a secondary emission source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), overturning the long-held belief that the ocean serves as a final sink for these persistent, EU-regulated “forever chemicals” through dilution. PFAS and precursors deposit with SSA on the dune surface and are transported with infiltrating (rain)water into the groundwater. In the subsurface, PFAS precursors may degrade into persistent PFAS, thereby contributing to long-term PFAS contamination. This re-emission challenges European water utilities striving to comply with increasingly strict PFAS limits for drinking water from dune filtration systems.
Numerical models serve as a useful tool to investigate PFAS behaviour in the subsurface by extending the insights from observations and providing a quantitative framework to predict, assess, and analyze contaminants. State-of-the-art PFAS models are restricted to firefighting sites or numerical experiments and lack field calibration, leaving a critical gap in understanding PFAS behaviour in dune sites. LINGERS breaks this barrier by, for the first time, explicitly modelling PFAS and precursor degradation to predict PFAS concentrations at the Haamstede field site. Existing monitoring data from Haamstede will be analysed to trace how PFAS and precursors are transported from the dune surface through the unsaturated and saturated zones to the abstraction wells. These insights will inform a conceptual model that guides the extension of an existing 2D MODFLOW6 model of the saturated zone with USGT-PFAS, enabling simulation of the coupled flow and reactive transport of PFAS and precursors at any field site. The 2D transferable modelling frameworks will be further developed into a Haamstede site-specific 3D model calibrated with field data to predict concentrations. By providing a modelling tool, LINGERS will support water utilities and decision-makers in safeguarding drinking water supplies across Europe.
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.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes drinking water treatment processes
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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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.
2628 CN Delft
Netherlands
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.