Natural Water Systems and Treatment Technologies to cope with Water Shortages in Urbanised Areas in India

Informazioni relative al progetto

NAWATECH-EU PART

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 308336

Progetto chiuso

Data di avvio 1 Luglio 2012

Data di completamento 31 Dicembre 2015

Finanziato da

• Specific Programme "Cooperation": Environment (including Climate Change)

Costo totale € 1 778 589,41

Contributo UE € 1 445 824,14

Coordinato da

VEREIN ZUR FORDERUNG DES TECHNOLOGIETRANSFERS AN DER HOCHSCHULE BREMERHAVEN EV
Germany

Final Report Summary - NAWATECH-EU PART (Natural Water Systems and Treatment Technologies to cope with Water Shortages in Urbanised Areas in India)

Executive Summary:
Providing adequate water supply and sanitation, particularly in urban areas, is a challenging task for governments throughout the world. This task is made even more difficult due to predicted dramatic global changes. In order to cope with water shortages in urban areas, there is a need for a paradigm shift from conventional end-of-pipe water management to an integrated approach. This integrated approach should include several actions such as: (i) interventions over the entire urban water cycle (considering wastewater and freshwater both as integrated part of water resources in general); (ii) optimisation of water use by reusing wastewater and preventing pollution of freshwater source; (iii) prioritisation of small-scale natural and technical systems, which are flexible, cost-effective and require low operation and maintenance.
Natural water systems, such as manmade wetlands and sub-soil filtration and storage via soil aquifer treatment and bank filtration, are such systems. In addition, compact technical systems such as SBRs and MBRs have made a great development step in the last years. Moreover, they can absorb highly and widely varying pollution loads, buffer seasonal fluctuations in the availability of water and can be integrated into the urban planning as green infrastructures providing additional socio-economic benefits such as amenity.
In Europe, those systems have been developed for many years and their potential for the application in developing and newly-industrialised countries is widely accepted. However, the location of India and many of these developing and newly-industrialised countries in warmer climatic zones sets different environmental conditions.
Taking these facts into account, NaWaTech Europe and NaWaTech India aim at maximising the exploitation of natural and compact technical systems and processes for the effective management of municipal water resources, of water supply and sanitation services and of the municipal water cycle as a whole in urbanised areas of India. In order to reach the maximal impact, both projects have developed one common work plan targeting the same objectives.
NaWaTech stands for natural water systems and treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanised areas in India. The joint consortium assessed and enhanced the potential of natural and technical water treatment systems to suit the local hydro-geological conditions and to cope with water shortage in urbanised areas of India. The concept was based on an optimised use of different urban water flows by treating each of these flows via a modular natural system taking into account the different nature and degree of pollution of the different water sources. Thus, it cost-effectively improved the water quality of urban surface water and restored depleting groundwater sources. Due to the multi-barrier approach, these systems were also able to treat heavily polluted water (i.e. wastewater) in order to reuse it and to supplement traditional sources to cope with water shortages today and in the future. Besides the technical aspects, research also covered financial, environmental and institutional sustainability of those systems in order to develop and bring to the market a cost efficient multi-barrier water management approach: the NaWaTech system.
This holistic approach minimised the urban water footprint and enhanced the water security of the area as the water cycle is closed at a local level. It also minimised the pollution of ecosystems and water sources for downstream users, as almost minimal amounts of freshwater get polluted and polluted water is treated and reused locally.

Project Context and Objectives:
NaWaTech project started on July 1st, 2012, and finished on December 31st, 2015, with a total duration of 42 months. In sum, the project aimed to assess and enhance natural and technical water treatment systems such as constructed wetlands, SBRs & MBRs and bank filtration in order to develop a technically cost-efficient and robust water management system to cope sustainably with water shortages in urban areas of India.
To achieve this goal, the consortium defined the following strategic objectives of NaWaTech:
1. To assess the technical, financial and environmental potential of natural water treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanised areas in India.
2. To enhance the natural water treatment systems for the production of recycled water to supplement water sources considering extreme climatic conditions and highly and widely varying pollutions loads (e.g. monsoon floods).
3. To disseminate, exploit, and ensure the take-up in practice and mainstreaming of NaWaTech activities and output by key stakeholders (e.g. end-users, SMEs and service providers, decision makers).
4. To develop technical guidelines, tools and manuals for design, implementation and operation and maintenance, as well as policy briefs.
5. To ensure the interest and potential benefit to SMEs by supporting the development of a local market of natural water treatment and storage technologies and by facilitating the local SMEs by organising training and capacity building workshops, as well as by ensuring the participation of local SMEs in the implementation phase of the project itself (learning by doing).
6. To create an enabled institutional environment in order to allow the take-up in practice and mainstreaming of the results (e.g. align NaWaTech initiatives with existing urban water plans, strategies and policies).
7. To establish foundations of a long-term cooperation between EU and India in water technologies as part of the Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SFIC) and to create bridgeheads among research institutions and ensure the take up of the NaWaTech approach in educational curricula.
In order to gain knowledge of operational requirements specific to urban areas in India for the technologies considered in the NaWaTech approach, the partners worked hand to hand concentrating on the assessment and enhancement of specific aspects of the whole systems while keeping in mind the overall goal of the development of a NaWaTech system, which has to be technically cost-effective, reliable and easy to operate and maintain. The scientific objectives according to the kinds of technologies are:
- Pre-treatments of high-strength wastewaters (i.e. blackwater) prior to constructed wetlands:
▪ To achieve suspended solid removals by applying low rate anaerobic digestors greater than 80%.
▪ To couple constructed wetlands with sludge digesters in a compact design, with simple O&M requirements and increased lifespan.
- Constructed wetlands (CW) to improve the quality of different urban water sources (i.e. blackwater, greywater, rainwater and stormwater); the potential of root zone treatment for the improvement of surface water quality prior to bank filtration.
▪ To improve the performance of CWs, by predicting, preventing and delaying the clogging process.
▪ To optimise space requirements of constructed wetlands for the Indian context.
▪ To study and control the effects on salinity raise due to high evapotranspiration.
▪ To understand the influence of shading of wetland plants on treatment performance of the CW and to propose innovative methods to control the breeding of mosquitoes and other vectors of human diseases.
▪ To define the potential of producing high-value energy crops in constructed wetlands, considering the treatment performance, the environmental, social and economic implications.
▪ To couple different configurations of constructed wetlands, minimising the land footprint risk for pollution through a multibarrier system.
- Compact technical treatment solutions adapted to high loads especially in urban areas such as MBR and SBR systems.
▪ To develop a system for simplified control for SBR.
▪ To develop a low energy aeration system for aerobic SBR and MBR adapted to the Indian conditions.
▪ To test anaerobic MBR systems under the Indian conditions.
▪ To optimise the combination of SBR and MBR (SMBR) into a robust system to cope with the needs of the Indian urban population.
- Potential post-treatment units (e.g. Short Rotation Coppice, sand filtration, membrane filtration or UV-disinfection).
▪ To study the potential of SRP as post-treatment and re-use option for domestic wastewater under Indian conditions.
▪ To study native Indian coppicing tree species, in order to assess the most promising species to test.
▪ To test and demonstrate a SRC pilot installation under Indian conditions, monitoring its effects on soil, ground water and biomass growth.
▪ To test a simplified sand filtration system (slow/rapid filtration), requiring low-energy input and low operation and maintenance.
▪ To optimise an UV-disinfection or chlorination process for further polishing of the water.
Further scientific objectives to be achieved during the field research step at the NaWaTech in India are:
- To determine the economic, social, financial and environmental sustainability of the NaWaTech sites.
- To develop an operation and monitoring scheme that is technically viable and cost-effective for the application of NaWaTech approaches in urbanised areas of India.
- To ensure the sustainability of the NaWatech sites beyond the project duration, considering technical, financial, environmental and institutional aspects.
This project produced therefore knowledge, technologies, guidelines and tools for implementation and operation, skilled service providers and SMEs, research partnerships and enabling institutional environments for the application of natural water treatment systems to cope with water shortages in urban areas of India. Besides the scientific enhancement, an important component of the project is that it brought together all stakeholders involved with or who had interest in urban water management. These multi-stakeholder learning alliances were institutionalised in the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP) in order to achieve an impact beyond the project on the implementation of research and dissemination activities by taking account of local problems and needs. Clearly, this substantially contributed to a reduction in the vulnerability of Indian cities and their capacity to cope with water shortages.
In order to achieve these objectives, the work was organised in 7 Work Packages (WPs) within the NaWaTech project. Out of 7 WPs, there were 4 “Coordination” WPs (WP1 – WP4), 2 “Other activities” WP (WP5 – 6) and 1 “Management” WP (WP7):
• WP1: Assessment.
• WP2: Enhancement.
• WP3: Development.
• WP4: NaWaTech Community of Practice (NaWaTech CoP).
• WP5: Dissemination and Training.
• WP6: SME breeding.
• WP7: Management.
Within WP1, the prerequisites for successful operation of natural and technical water treatment systems in urbanised areas of India based on the previous experience (sustainability criteria) were identified and defined. These criteria will be the basis for the further technical, financial and environmental assessment of the mentioned systems. In addition, available data regarding technical, financial and environmental performance of natural and technical water treatment systems based on previous experiences in Europe (and particularly their potential application in unban Indian areas) and also in India were collected in the NaWaTech Compendium and will be further disseminated.
Regarding WP2, focused on the upgrading and enhancement of the different units of the overall system for their applicability in urbanised areas of India, the consortium has compiled the results from data collection from all field sites, the first results from the research carried out by the European partners to prepare the implementation of the NaWaTech systems in India and the description of the concept for the NaWaTech Safety Plans. In addition, the consortium has analysed for each site the specific local requirements for design, the administrative issues, the stakeholders involvement, the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding and the problems/challenges faced. Finally, the work within this WP was closed with the preliminary design of the five sites which will be implemented in India, comprising the technical preliminary design, the landscape design and the technology assessment by NaWaTech sustainability criteria.
WP3 deals with the implementation stage. The final test sites were Amanora Park Town, College of Engineering Pune (COEP) hostel, Maharashtra JeevanPradhikaran (MJP) office building and Indradhanushya Museum in Pune and Ordnance Factory (OFAJ) and Dayanand Park in Nagpur. By the end of the European project (the Indian project has been extended until September 2016), 2 of the sites are completed and under monitoring stage (Amanora and MJP), 2 are practically ready (COEP and OFAJ), one is expected to be finished by the beginning of 2016 (Indradhanushya Museum) and the last one will be implemented during 2016, as the Indian consortium is waiting for funds to finalise it (Dayanand Park).
Within WP4 the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP), aiming to bring together the key stakeholders from academia and research, industry (including SMEs), end-users and decision makers (i.e. municipalities), was established and enlarged. Two branches have been created, one for Pune and another one for Nagpur, a CoP working strategy was also developed and many CoP events have been held both in Pune and Nagpur. One of the most relevant outcomes of this work was the request of the systems implementation in other areas (using similar designs). Another important topic within this WP is the twinning of students in order to reinforce the research exchange between India and EU. 3 PhD and 10 MSc students benefited from this exchanged between European and Indian research organisations, concretely, 5 students from UPC went to NEERI, 3 from BOKU to NEERI, 1 from ESF to UPC, 1 from ESF to BOKU, 2 from NEERI to UPC and 1 from NEERI to BOKU. In addition, 14 MSc Theses covering any of the NaWaTech topics and 4 PhD Theses cointaining at least a chapter focused on NaWaTech have been produced. Furthermore, many scientific publications have been released in the form of journal papers, conference proceedings, posters or oral presentations. Last but not least, the Final Conference was designed, settting the date, venue, call for abstracts deadline and general contents. It will be held in 2016, so an alternative event with the NaWaTech CoP was conducted alongside the Final NaWaTech Meeting in India on November 2015.
With regards to WP5 and the project dissemination, the project website, www.nawatech.net was continuously being updated as usual within task 5.1. It contains news, links to relevant documents, a photo gallery, public reports and deliverables, the technical notes, the leaflets, posters and newsletters produced and the Theses of the students. Furthermore, leaftlet #3 and newsletters #3 and #4 were produced, as well as a leaflet for promoting the training programme in India. Besides, a short film was produced (approximately 7- 8 minutes), giving a condensed but complete overview on the project. The video presents a collection of 3D animations of the technologies, shootings in all pilot projects in Pune and Nagpur and a description of the project. It is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfiiUT-WGws&feature=youtu.be. Moreover, recommendation papers were also produced, being one of them a special issue of Sustainable Sanitation Practice (SSP) Journal. Technical notes on the selected technologies to be implemented in the NaWaTech sites were also produced in order to ensure the uptake practice of NaWaTech systems by practitioners. In addition, the partners decided to write the experience of all implementation projects in Pune and Nagpur using the template of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, SuSanA, hence being published on this platform (http://www.susana.org/en/resources/case-studies). Likewise, the consortium developed the NaWaKit, an online platform (www.sswm.info/category/step-nawatech/introduction) containing all the key results of NaWaTech project, a Specific Topic Entry Page (STEP) to the Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM) Toolbox (www.sswm.info) that was designed as a one-shop information tool to provide the needed technical and business strategy tools to support water practitioners when conceiving, launching and growing a new venture in the water and wastewater sector. Last but not least, the consortium designed and conducted international training workshops.
WP6 has been designed to ensure the interest and potential benefit to SMEs and the beneficial economic impact to the sector concerned. A study about the market oportunities of new Indian based SMEs in the wastewater sector was carried out, a strategy for market analysis was developed and a SME mapping in the water and sanitation sector in India was conducted, identifying more than 250 SMEs working in the sector. It was decided to hold a set of NaWaTech business opportunities workshops during the year 2014 with potential entrepreneurs and existing SMEs to initiate the identification of participants for the SME training in the last semester of the project. This was a SME training programme for technologies and business development in natural wastewater treatment systems was also developed for SME owners and enterpreneurs, being developed both in Pune and Nagpur.
Eventually, project management within WP7 has been carried out in parallel to the rest of activities, ensuring the smooth running of the project and the correct organisation, communication and co-operation between the beneficiaries and with the European Commission.
The success and impact of all this technical and non-technical work is a fact, as the results of NaWaTech will be integrated into the cewas start-up programme (specific for India, cewas-South-East-Asia) and there will be continuing opportunities for NaWaTech technology providers, as some requests of the systems implementation in other areas (using similar designs) have been received by the NaWaTech consortium and as a result of this, 4-5 replication sites are currelty being planned.

Project Results:
NaWaTech project produced knowledge, technologies, guidelines and tools for implementation and operation, skilled service providers and SMEs, research partnerships and enabling institutional environments for the application of natural water treatment systems to cope with water shortages in urban areas of India. Besides the scientific enhancement, an important component of the project is that it brought together all stakeholders involved with or who had interest in urban water management. These multi-stakeholder learning alliances were institutionalised in the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP) in order to achieve an impact beyond the project on the implementation of research and dissemination activities by taking account of local problems and needs. Clearly, this substantially contributed to a reduction in the vulnerability of Indian cities and their capacity to cope with water shortages.
As a result of all work carried out, the outputs / foregrounds of NaWaTech project could be summarised as follows:
- Identification of NaWaTech technical, economical and environmental sustainability criteria.
- Collection and dissemination of the performance of NaWaTechs based on previous experiences in the Europe (and the world) and India.
- Assessment of the potential of the NaWaTechs to be integrated in a multi-barrier water management systems for different urban water sources, including their technical cost-effectiveness, as well as their adaptability to local conditions.
- Identification of high-potential NaWaTechs based on sustainability criteria.
- Definition of remaining knowledge gap and development of research strategy.
- Closing of the remaining knowledge gap and technologically enhance each components of natural and technical water treatment systems required for the successful operation in urbanised areas or India (and in a wider sense developing in newly-industrialised countries as well as in countries with a moderate climate facing the consequences of climate change).
- Assessment of the financial, institutional and environmental sustainability of the components and the NaWaTech system schemes in the context of urbanised areas in India.
- Specification of the technological, financial, institutional and environmental aspects to be considered for the successful operation of NaWaTech systems and identification of the most appropriate NaWaTech schemes.
- Ensuring the availability of two sites (Pune and Nagpur) in urban and peri-urban areas for the NaWaTech compact multi-barrier system development and definition of an implementation plan for six NaWaTech systems:
▪ Amanora Park Town, Pune.
▪ College of Engineering Pune (COEP) hostel, Pune.
▪ Maharashtra JeevanPradhikaran (MJP) office building, Pune.
▪ Indradhanushya Museum, Pune.
▪ Ordnance Factory (OFAJ), Nagpur.
▪ Dayanand Park, Nagpur.
- Implementation stage of these sites containing natural and technical water treatment systems forming together multi-barrier water management compact systems.
- Development of an operation and monitoring scheme that is technically viable and cost-effective for the application in urbanised areas of India.
- Evaluation of the financial and environmental sustainability of these implementation sites.
- Ensuring the sustainability of the implementation sites beyond the project considering technical, financial, environmental and institutional aspects.
- Initiation and maintenance of a NaWaTech Community of Practice (NaWaTech CoP) bringing together key stakeholders from academia and research, industry (including SMEs), end-users and decision makers (i.e. municipalities).
- Promotion of the EU-India academic and cultural exchange by parenting students to carry out joint projects (i.e. by twinning MSc and PhD thesis).
- Development of a strategic plan for the consolidation of the NaWaTech CoP main activities (EU-India research partnership; advocacy group for natural water treatment systems) in the future.
- Preparation of appropriate material for the dissemination of NaWaTech activities and outputs to a larger public.
- Involvement of key stakeholders (SMEs and end-users) in the process of elaborating technical notes and recommendations through participatory workshops.
- Facilitation of the knowledge transfer between EU and Indian key stakeholders from academia and establish the foundation for long-term research collaboration.
- Identification of business opportunities for NaWaTech services (planning, implementation, operation) in the target region.
- Identification of the capacities and orientations of existing SMEs of the water sector in the target region.
The work carried out within the different WPs could be summarised as follows:
WORK PACKAGE 1: ASSESSMENT. WP leader: TTZ.
The main purpose of WP1 was to contribute to assess the technical, financial and environmental sustainability of natural water treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanised areas in India. This was done at two levels; the first level comprised the collection, dissemination, analysis and interpretation of existing data in a structured way, and the second level comprises the development of a specific research strategy for closing the remaining knowledge gap and for enhancing the studied technologies for the adaptability to urban areas in India.
Task 1.1: identification of prerequisites for successful operation of natural and technical water treatment systems in urbanised areas of India based on the previous experience (definition of sustainability criteria). Task leader: TTZ.
Task 1.1 consisted in the identification and definition of sustainability criteria based on which the technical, financial and environmental assessment could be carried out. The outcome of this task was the NaWaTech sustainability criteria catalogue.
This task was carried out in two steps, and the first one consisted in drafting a preliminary list to set the basis of the requirements and format needed, and starting the debate between the partners.
The output of this work was deliverable D1.1 “Preliminary report on the identification of assessment criteria” by BIOAZUL, submitted by December 12th, 2012.
This first document was the draft of NaWaTech sustainability criteria. The structure and additional contents needed for the elaboration of the final catalogue was agreed and the final NaWaTech sustainability criteria catalogue was prepared.
It includes a list and description of the criteria and a guideline on how to apply them. This deliverable D1.2 “NaWaTech sustainability criteria catalogue” by TTZ, submitted by December 22nd, 2012.
Task 1.2: collection and dissemination of available data regarding technical, financial and environmental performance of natural and technical water treatment systems based on previous experiences in Europe and India (the NaWaTech compendium). Task leader: SEECON.
This task was dedicated to the collection and dissemination of information related to NaWaTech technologies, particularly its applicability in urban areas in India. The aim of this activity was to gain a better overview about the technologies and give them an assessment of their potential application in urbanised areas of India by using the sustainability criteria elaborated in task 1.1.
It was decided to prepare a compendium of factsheets describing each technology, expressing the possibility of compiling them in the form of a book that could be printed and distributed among interested stakeholders. As a first step, the team decided which technologies should be included in the compendium, understanding that NaWaTech systems should facilitate an optimised use of water, thus reducing water dependency from the service of the municipal corporation. They were chosen taking into consideration the different steps of the urban water cycle: water sources, purification, distribution, use, collection, wastewater treatment and reuse/discharge. The partners pre-selected 29 technologies that, finally, would be reduced to 23 (Bank Filtration, Rainwater Harvesting, Retention Basin, water saving devices to reduce water consumption at home, ABR, AF, UASB reactor, SBR, MBR, MBBR, non-planted filters, Horizontal Flow wetland, Vertical flow wetland + French wetlands, Hybrid wetland, Sludge drying rete bed + dry beds, Aerated Engineered Wetland, Anaerobic Digestion of Biosolids, Vertical Gardens, Eco-Filtration Plants, Soil Aquifer Treatment, Short Rotation Coppice, Surface Groundwater Recharge and Sub-surface groundwater recharge).
The final sections of the compendium were: foreword by EC, foreword by DST, preface by NEERI, acknowledgements, introduction to the compendium, water management in urban India, the NaWaTech approach, the water management system (water sources, water purification, water distribution, water use, water collection, water treatment. water reuse), description of NaWaTech technologies (the 29 mentioned above), challenges of implementing NaWaTech in India and application of the sustainability criteria.
The result of this task was deliverable D1.3 “Compendium on natural and technical water treatment technologies” by SEECON, submitted by November 14th, 2013.
Task 1.3: assessment of the potential of natural and technical treatment technologies as functional unit of a multi-barrier water management system (the NaWaTech system). Task leader: SEECON.
Within this task, a shortlist the technologies that show a high potential for the sustainable implementation in urban areas of India was distributed, discussed and approved.
Thus, a resulting list of 23 technologies to optimise the water management in the different steps of the urban water cycle was generated. A NaWaTech system would be then composed by an arrangement of natural and compacted technologies to render the different water streams safe for different uses. Based on the prevailing conditions and the specific characteristics of the sites already identified in Pune and Nagpur, 6 different high potential natural and technical water treatment systems were described.
The suggested systems for development and implementation were reported in deliverable D1.5 “List of selected high potential natural and technical water treatment systems” by SEECON, submitted to the EC on March 6th, 2013.
Task 1.4: definition of remaining technological knowledge gap and development of research strategy for WP2. Task leader: BOKU.
Based on the knowledge gained in task 1.1 1.2 and 1.3 task 1.4 aimed at preparing a detailed research plan including experiments required for answering remaining questions regarding the potential of the short-listed natural and technical water treatment units and a strategy for the enhancement of these technologies and their successful development in urbanised areas of India. The preliminary questions to be answered were:
1. Proposal for technological solution.
2. Data requirements for design.
3. Uncertainties in design assumptions (where is research need?).
4. Parameters to be measured.
5. Who are the relevant stakeholders?
6. O&M requirements.
7. Timeline, draft work plan and responsibilities.
With this information, the research/work plan for NaWaTech WP2 and WP3, respectively, were prepared.
2 deliverables, D1.4 "List of categories of consumables and infrastructures that will be required" and D1.6 "Research plan for upgrading of technological potential of components of the multi-barrier system schemes", were prepared by BOKU and submitted on April 4th, 2013 and June 6th, 2013 respectively.
Since the completion of D1.6 the research/work plan has been updated periodically. The research/work plan was further used to follow the work in the project (mainly in task 2.2).
WORK PACKAGE 2: ENHANCEMENT. WP leader: BOKU.
While the following WP (WP3) was focused on the technological (design, operation, monitoring, risk management) development of the NaWaTech system, the present work package focused on the upgrading and enhancement of the different units of the overall system for their applicability in the given context.
Task 2.1: enhancement of the technological potential of each NaWaTech system potential component identified in WP1. Task leader: BOKU.
Task 2.1 was devoted to the implementation of the enhancement strategy developed in task 1.4 focusing on upgrading the different units of the NaWaTech systems facing the different conditions in India. The main outcome of this task, i.e. deliverable D2.1 was outlined in the research / work plan (deliverable D1.6).
The work in this task was summarised in deliverable D2.1 "Study Copping with water shortages in urbanized areas of developing countries: the case of India" by BOKU. It described the first results from researches towards sustainable implementation of NaWaTech systems in India and comprised: results from data collection from all field sites, results from research carried out by the European partners to prepare the implementation of NaWaTech systems in India and the description of the concept for the NaWaTech Safety Plans (Tables 1-3). It was submitted on December 19th, 2013.
Task 2.2: enhancement of the technological potential of each component of the multi-barrier NaWaTech in order to support the technological development of the overall NaWaTech system (WP3). Task leader: BOKU.
This task was designed to link-up the results from the performance and reliability of the overall NaWaTech systems (WP3) back to laboratory and continue the work carried out in task 2.1 on upgrading the different components of the system.
It comprised the research work conducted in the implementation sites in India. This allowed for validation of the technologies and designs under Indian conditions, and for iterative research and adjustments.
As for BOKU, the main part of the work was done in the following contexts: development of research plans for each implementation sites and development of the NaWaTech safety and operation and maintenance (O&M) plans for the implementations sites.
Furthermore, regarding UPC, the institution carried out a comparison of different configurations of wastewater treatment systems taking into account environmental and socio-economic criteria. Life Cycle Assessment and multi-criteria analysis were used to compare conventional wastewater treatment plant and different CW configurations.
The resulting deliverable of this task, D2.5 “Enhancement of the potential of natural water treatment systems to cope with water shortages in urban India”, was produced by BOKU towards the end of the project summarising the results, being submitted by December 4th, 2015.
Task 2.3: financial, environmental, social and institutional prerequisite for the successful development of NaWaTech system schemes in the context of urbanised areas in India. Task leader: BOKU.
This task aimed at studying the financial, institutional and environmental feasibility for the successful development of the NaWaTech system schemes in the context of urbanised areas of India. This task was essential to identify the approaches with the highest potential to be sustainably implemented and to prepare a consistent development strategy.
The result of this task was deliverable D2.2 “Financial, environmental, social and environmental prerequisites for the successful development of NaWaTech system in an integrated urban water management scheme in developing and newly-industrialised countries: the case of India" by BOKU, comprising the research results including the development of the framework for the NaWaTech safety Plans, and it was submitted on December 19th, 2013.
This deliverable described prerequisites for the development and implementation of NaWaTech systems in India. It comprised the specific local requirements for each site for design, the administrative issues, the stakeholders’ involvement, the process of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and the problems/challenges faced. In the final chapter, general conclusions from the experiences were drawn.
Task 2.4: identification of the approach with highest potential to be successfully developed for the application in urbanised areas of India. Task leader: UPC.
Task 2.3 focused on the interpretation and summarising of the findings and outputs of tasks 2.1 and 2.2 to specify the technological, financial, institutional and environmental aspects to be considered for the successful development of an overall NaWaTech system considering the given climatic and socio-economic context. The work carried out was summarised in deliverable D2.3 "Identification of the highest highest-potential approach for the NaWaTech system development" by PC, submitted by December 18th, 2013. The deliverable comprised technical preliminary design, landscape design and technology assessment by NaWaTech sustainability criteria for each site.
Moreover, the outcomes of the first NaWaTech Safety Planning session and the results of the technologies assessment by means of NaWaTech sustainability criteria were included in such report.
WORK PACKAGE 3: DEVELOPMENT. WP leader: BIOAZUL.
WP3 was designed to contribute to the further enhancement of the natural and technical water treatment systems for the production of recycled water to supplement water sources considering extreme climatic conditions and highly and widely varying pollution loads (e.g. monsoon floods). Research was finally carried out in six different NaWaTech implementation sites containing several experimental units connected to real water sources. Implementations, as well as the operation and maintenance tasks, were mainly carried out by SMEs involved in the projects, what contributed to SME promotion and linked up WP3 with WP6.
Development therefore considered implementation, operation, monitoring and risk management as well as financial, institutional and environmental viability. The overall goal of WP3 was the development of a compact multi-barrier water management system (the NaWaTech scheme).
Tasks 3.1: definition of criteria, selection of sites and developing of designs for the implementation of the NaWaTech development parks, 3.2: implementation and start-up of at least two NaWaTech implementation sites, 3.3: development of a cost-efficient and viable operation and monitoring scheme, 3.4: validate the socio-economic, environmental and institutional sustainability of the NaWaTech project and 3.5: continuous improvement of the multi-barrier water management NaWaTech systems and 3.6: ensuring sustainability (scientific, financial, environmental and institutional) of the NaWaTech implementation sites. Task leaders: ESF, SERI, NEERI, IWWA.
The implementation of WP3 (NaWaTech systems development) required the availability of space at appropriate locations within a typical urban or peri-urban environment. The availability of this land was directly linked to the awareness and the implication of policy makers and resource allocators (i.e. city planners). Therefore, it was crucial that high-level project partners guided by the Indian coordinator (NEERI) and other members of the advocacy group joint their efforts in order to ensure the availability of the needed sites.
For the selection of the NaWaTech test sites, the following criteria were considered:
- Relevance with project objectives: urban settlements with need of NaWaTech systems.
- Adequate space requirements, existing infrastructure (i.e. double piping).
- Adequate number of beneficiaries as per DST requirements (4,800 p.e. in total).
- Differentiation between sites: possibility for testing different technologies and configurations.
- Support and approval by local authorities and owners.
The final selected test sites were:
- Amanora Park Town, Pune, responsible partner: BIOAZUL.
- College of Engineering Pune (COEP) hostel, Pune, responsible partner: IRIDRA.
- Maharashtra JeevanPradhikaran (MJP) office building, Pune, responsible partner: IRIDRA.
- Indradhanushya Museum, Pune, responsible partner: Kre_Ta.
- Ordnance Factory (OFAJ), Nagpur, responsible partner: IRIDRA.
- Dayanand Park, Nagpur, responsible partner: UPC.
In Amanora Park Town a sequential batch reactor (SBR) and a membrane bioreactor (MBR) were constructed and the commissioning started on June 5th, 2014. Both systems are treating 30m3/day of wastewater from residential buildings, reusing the treated effluent for toilet flushing and gardening irrigation.
On the front of the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) Office a vertical garden was implemented to treat greywater and reuse the treated water for irrigation. Commissioning started on February 1st, 2015.
The selected wastewater treatment systems for the COEP Hostel Campus were 1 Anaerobic treatment of 40 m3/day of mixed wastewater, which will then be discharged to the main sewer line, 1 VF CW system of 100 m3/day of mixed wastewater and 1 VF CW system of 40 m3/day of segregated greywater, being the treated effluent from both CW reused for toilet flushing and gardening. Commissioning was foreseen for December 31st, 2015.
An eco-filtration bank (EFB) system, a zero-electricity technique comprising natural materials helping in the formation of biofilms useful for biodegradation of pollution, was implemented at the Indradhanushya Museum to treat the Ambil Stream. Commissioning was foreseen for December 31st, 2015.
At Ordnance Factory (OFAJ), the system implemented consisted of a main treatment line with anaerobic treatment + subsurface HF CW, and a pilot line with French wetland + short rotation plantation (SRP). Together, the system is designed for 100 p.e. (100 m3/day), and the treated water is proposed for reuse of watering a multi-purpose garden and sports complex. Commissioning was foreseen for January 31st, 2016.
The system to be implemented from January 2016 at Dayanand Park, a multi-utility public garden, is a combination of HF & VF subsurface CW, 5 lines, with the integration of existing landscape. Such solutions can then be replicated at other garden / parks in a modular fashion in the city and country.
All these systems show different alternative options to treat and, therefore, save water. This work has also produced knowledge, technologies, guidelines and tools for implementation and operation, skilled service providers and SMEs, research partnerships and enabled institutional environments for the application of natural water treatment systems to cope with water shortages in urban areas of India (Figures 1-71).
All documents related to the case studies in each site were finalised with the aim to disseminate the approach and the results. The factsheets were uploaded in the online NaWakit version, and alternative versions following the SuSanA template were also prepared in order to submit them for the publication on the SuSanA website (www.susana.org/en/resources/case-studies).
The outcomes of all this work were compiled in deliverable D3.1 “Design and drawing for 2 NaWaTech implementation sites” by Kre_Ta, whose last version was submitted to the EC on January 31st, 2015.
WORK PACKAGE 4: NaWaTech COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (NaWaTech CoP). WP leader: UPC.
The overall aims of this work package were triple. First it aimed to support WP3 and WP5. Secondly, it aimed also at ensuring the establishment of a long-term cooperation between EU and India in water technologies. Thirdly, it provided an advocacy platform to bring together the key stakeholders from academia and industry with decision makers and to create an enabling institutional environment for the initiatives of the project.
Task 4.1: start-up of NaWaTech CoP and establishment and management of activities. Task leader: TTZ.
The NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP) aims to bring together key stakeholders from academia and research, industry (including SMEs), end-users and decision makers (i.e. municipalities) involved in the NaWaTech initiatives in order to exchange know-how and establish long-term partnerships.
NaWaTech CoP activities were carried out according to the vision of the NaWaTech CoP (‘NaWaTech CoP will ensure the take-up in practice and mainstreaming of NaWaTech activities and output by key stakeholders and enable an exchange of knowledge, information and practice between stakeholders, beneficiaries and practitioners’) in both of the base locations of NaWaTech,
Pune and Nagpur, in order to build close relationships with relevant local stakeholders.
At both these locations NaWaTech Secretariats were created, currently in hands of the NaWaTech partners: ESF in Pune and NEERI in Nagpur. The roles of the Secretariats are:
- Inviting key stakeholders to become members of CoP.
- Organising regular meetings.
- Stimulating discussions on forum (NaWaTech Facebook) and capitalise the outcomes of these discussions.
- Contributing actively in the dissemination activities of NaWaTech project, in particular the NaWaTech newsletter and NaWaTech publication series.
- Keeping members of the CoP updated with the activities and project progress.
- Identifying members that could participate in NaWaTech activities (SME breeding).
- Finding sponsors for self-financing.
- Stimulating discussions on the NaWaTech Facebook page and capitalise outcomes of these discussions.
The NaWaTech CoP Facebook page, used for both locations, is regularly updated in order to spread information about CoP and NaWaTech events, news, or other related information.
Overview of the activities in Pune
Specific dissemination materials were prepared for the Pune CoP chapter in order to be able to better introduce the NaWaTech project, the Pune test sites and the CoP to local stakeholders. Many dissemination CoP meetings were held during the project duration (Figures 72-77). In particular the following achievements deserve attention:
- 150 registered students are registered as CoP peripheral members.
- Organised problem statement for COEP competition.
- Long-term CoP activity collaboration with 5 colleges.
- Research students for NaWaTech Pune sites – 3 students.
- Different educational branches are covered: civil engineering, architecture, environmental sciences.
- Institutions reached: SCMHRD; MITCOE, VITCOE, BNCA, Bharati Vidyapeeth Civil Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth Sustainable Architechture.
Furthermore, the possibility for NaWaTech system replication was currently being discussed in collaboration with the VIT College of Engineering, with an exact location of decentralised treatment systems already proposed. Hereby, the college could increase its attraction for this research field.
Overview of the activities in Nagpur
A total of seven CoP meetings with stakeholders were conducted in Nagpur (Figures 78-83). Specific dissemination material was developed for the events in local languages in order to enhance stakeholder engagement.
The result of these events was the request of the systems implementation in other areas (using similar designs). Already within the project timeframe the concrete opportunity to replicate water treatment systems considering the NaWaTech approach has arisen at the following locations:
- Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL), Gumgaon, Nagpur (100 m3/day): A treatment plant is proposed to be setup to treat sewage from staff quarters of MOIL, Gumgaon near Nagpur.
- Navegaon Sadhu village (50 m3/day): A model village in Nagpur District, where sewage is discharged through open drains is also going to adopt natural treatment system. The treated effluent is proposed for recycle and reuse for gardening and irrigation purposes.
- Patansavangi Village (treatment capacity is yet to be decided) through Zilla Parishad (District Agency), Nagpur.
- Vyankatesh city (Housing Complex near Nagpur) to treat 30 m3/day.
The results of this task were deliverable D4.1 “MoU within all CoP members and the secretariat” by TTZ, submitted in June 6th, 2013, and D4.2 “Guidelines for the management of activities of the NaWaTech CoP” by TTZ, submitted in March 22nd, 2013.
Task 4.2: twinning of MSc and PhD students (and twinning of the involved research groups. Task leader: UPC.
This task was entirely devoted to the development of twinned internships, master or doctoral thesis. The twinnings consisted in two (or more) students from different research groups working together jointly in the same project, being this work favoured by the stays of the students for certain periods in one of the other research institutions, and their background could be different or the same. The students worked under the same terms of references, with each of them having its particular area of expertise linked to his/her home-university.
In summary, 13 students participated in the twinning of students (3 PhD students and 10 MSc students). Moreover, 11 MSc theses were finalised and 3 are still on-going. Regarding PhD Theses, 1 PhD thesis was finalised and 3 PhD theses are still on-going (Tables 4-5).
UPC was responsible for deliverables D4.10 “6 MSc Thesis” and D4.11 “6 PhD Thesis”. Both were submitted on December 7th, 2015.
Task 4.3: preparation and submission of publications in relevant scientific journals. Task leader: TTZ.
In order to guarantee the exchange with the global scientific community, NaWaTech research results were presented at conferences and published in relevant scientific journals. Summarising, NaWaTech scientific production was disseminated as / within journal papers, a special issue of the Sustainable Sanitation Practice (SSP) journal, conference proceedings, presentations at conferences in both Europe and India (poster and oral presentations).
TTZ was responsible for deliverable D4.12 “2 articles published or submitted per year”, that was submitted on January 21st, 2016.
Task 4.4: NaWaTech Conference 2015. Task leader: TTZ.
With regards to the NaWaTech Final Conference, the consortium agreed to have the Final Conference on November 4th – 6th, 2015 in Nagpur, India, following the Final Meeting. Titled “International Conference on Innovations in Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems (ISWATS)”, the conference would not only include the findings of NaWaTech, but also the other three India-EU projects (Eco-India, SWINGS and Saraswati) were aimed to actively participate to attract water professionals and organisations from across the world working towards sustainable water and wastewater treatment systems. The organising and the scientific committee were defined, as well as the core conference themes (Figure 84):
- Integrated urban water management.
- Natural and compact technological solutions.
- Upscaling water and wastewater treatment solutions.
- Solar Driven Disinfection Techniques.
- Community participation in water and wastewater treatment.
- Safety planning for improved O&M in water and wastewater treatment.
- Promoting involvement and capacity building of SMEs for replication.
- Technological propagation in government and public sectors.
The strategic objectives of the conference are to exchange knowledge, technologies, guidelines and tools for implementation and operation among academia and public authorities, skilled service providers and SMEs, enabling research partnerships and creating favourable environments for the application of treatment systems and technologies for sustainable water / wastewater treatment, reuse and recycle. Furthermore, the potential target audience was relevant R&D institutions, industrial participants, municipalities and NGOs, as well as members from the Control Pollution Board (maximum number of total attendees: approx. 160 – 170 people).
However, on August 2015, the NaWaTech consortium was notified about the deferral of the ISWATS conference on behalf of the DST due to the fact that not all test sites had been completed yet. The new date for the conference was confirmed by the DST on April 21st – 23rd, 2016, and the venue was also moved to Pune, India. Subsequently, abstract submission was extended to February 29th, 2016. Announcements regarding the deferral of the conference posted on all available dissemination channels (Figures 85-86).
In order to fulfil the EU requirement of a final project event, an alternative event with the NaWaTech CoP was planned and conducted at short notice alongside the Final NaWaTech Meeting in India on November 4th, 2015 in Nagpur (Figures 87-90).
TTZ prepared deliverable D4.5 “NaWaTech conference programme” and BIOAZUL deliverable D4.6 “Documentation for the NaWaTech Conference”, and both were submitted on October 27th, 2015. SEECON also prepared deliverable D4.8 “Short report on the Conference”, that was submitted to the EC on December 30th, 2015. Afterwards, TTZ also prepared deliverable D4.7 “NaWaTech Conference” and submitted it to the EC on February 9th, 2016.
Tasks 4.5: Consolidation of the EU-India research partnership network and network management and 4.6: Consolidation of the NaWaTech core advocacy group and its management. Task leader: SEECON, TTZ.
The NaWaTech Community of Practice was established with two different secretariats, one in Pune, coordinated by ESF and one in Nagpur, coordinated by NEERI. Both CoPs have concentrated on dissemination activities among students and beneficiaries, resulting on the activation of the demand from the public and private sector.
Analysing the CoPs it became clear that in both chapters it was practised more as a dissemination and awareness raising platform and not featuring other typical characteristics of a Community of Practice, as understood by literature. Nevertheless, this approach was highly successful, for instance seen in the fact that further NaWaTech replications are currently being planned due to the activation of the demand from the public and private sector. Key practitioners from academia and research, industry (including SMEs), end-users and decision makers (i.e. municipalities) were brought together in order to allow them to learn from each other face-to-face and virtually in order to establish a long-term partnership.
It was commonly decided that these activities should be continued in the future; both the Pune and the Nagpur chapter of the NaTech CoP would like to carry on beyond the project’s timeframe. Activities planned include:
- Engaging collaborative institutes and organisations to carry forward the CoP activities for long term.
- Involving college students / professionals in various CoP initiatives creating internship / research opportunities for them.
- Continuing the CoP activities through NaWaTech Web Forums and Social Sites by engaging peripheral members.
- Organising site visits for interested institutes or organisations (Government or Privates) for knowledge sharing.
In order to achieve this, it is planned to embed the NaWaTech CoP into IWWA, the Indian Water Work Association, keeping the chapters in Pune and Nagpur. IWWA has 34 centres all around India, and two of them are concretely in Pune and Nagpur, and discussions for integration of the NaWaTech CoP have already been initiated.
SEECON prepared deliverable D4.14 “Consolidation strategy for the activities of the CoP”, in which the results of the CoP were presented and analysed, including different strategies and proposed activities to assure the sustainability and the permanence of these initiatives in the future. It was submitted on December 21st, 2015.
WORK PACKAGE 5: DISSEMINATION AND CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT. WP leader: SEECON.
The main goal of WP5 was to contribute to disseminate, exploit and ensure the uptake in practice and mainstreaming of NaWaTech activities and outputs by key stakeholders (e.g. end-users, SMEs and other service providers, decision-makers, etc.). Additionally, the work package contributed to ensure the interest and potential benefit to SMEs, the uptake by SMEs and the beneficial economic impact to the sector concerned via the elaboration of technical notes and a decision support kit.
Task 5.1: preparation of project dissemination materials and integration of NaWaTech information in existing communication channels. Task leader: BIOAZUL.
This task was devoted to the preparation of dissemination material for the project. The promotion material foreseen for NaWaTech was: a project website, project dissemination templates, project Power Point presentation, project poster, project leaflets, NaWaTech film – Video, NaWaTech newsletters and NaWaTech publications.
NaWaTech website
Officially launched on October 15th 2012, NaWaTech website (www.nawatech.net) has been regularly updated and it includes the latest news regarding project results, materials published and upcoming events (e.g. courses, workshops, etc.). The updates and announcements were also regularly updated on the Facebook page of the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP) (Figures 91-93).
The NaWaTech website gives a clear and detailed overview about the project main idea, its objectives, the consortium, and it includes a description of all partners involved. There is available a regularly updated downloading section (‘public library’) where documents, deliverables, reports and dissemination material or the theses of students are published.
NaWaTech leaflets
Leaflet #1 (Figures 94-95) was prepared and submitted by the very beginning of June 2013. This leaflet provides general information on the project (objectives, expected results, etc.). Likewise, one of the main topics in the leaflet was the creation of the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP).
Leaflet #2 (Figures 96-97) was prepared and submitted by January 2014. It contains a short summary with regards to the different treatment systems proposed for each of the project test sites in which the partners were working by that moment (Amanora Park Town in Pune, College of Engineering (COEP Hostel Campus) in Pune, Central Railway in Ajni Colony in Nagpur, NMC Park in Nagpur and Indradhanyusha Environment Museum in Pune). It also includes information on the CoP and the upcoming NaWaTech events.
Leaflet #3 (Figures 98-99) was used as presentation for the International Conference on “Innovations in Sustainable Water and wastewater Treatment Systems” (ISWATS). The conference will include presentations of findings from four Indo-European projects supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India and the European Commission.
They were prepared by BIOAZUL, supported by SEECON and TTZ.
NaWaTech poster
The project poster (Figure 100) was conceived together with the project leaflet #1 as a first approximation to the project for those people interested in wastewater treatment. . It highlights the NaWaTech concept with a scheme of the water flows and how they can be managed, treated and reused. BIOAZUL was in charge of the poster preparation, supported by SEECON and TTZ.
NaWaTech presentation
This presentation (Figures 101-102) compiles the concept, objectives and activities planned for the NaWaTech project, as well as the key results, impacts achievements and consortium partners. BIOAZUL was in charge of its preparation.
NaWaTech newsletters
In order to continuously update the NaWaTech partners and involved stakeholders, a NaWaTech newsletter was produced every nine months. The newsletters include: update on ongoing activities, latest publications, report on past events, upcoming events, etc. BIOAZUL was in charge of the newsletters preparation.
Newsletter #1 (Figures 103-106) provides information on water crisis in urban India, NaWaTech concept, NaWaTech Kick-off meeting, joint Kick-off meeting of all Indian-EU water projects co-funded under the same call, NaWaTech Review meeting, deliverables already produced, NaWaTech next events and contact details of the Community of Practice (CoP) in Pune and Nagpur.
Newsletter #2 (Figures 107-112) provides information on NaWaTech project (general information), NaWaTech test sites (those in which the partners were working by that moment) and proposed solutions (Amanora Park Town in Pune, College of Engineering (COEP Hostel Campus) in Pune, Central Railway in Ajni Colony in Nagpur, NMC Park in Nagpur and Indradhanyusha Environment Museum in Pune), NaWaTech Mid-term meeting, NaWaTech first international workshop, NaWaTech next key events and information for joining the CoP, including the contact points’ details of both Pune and Nagpur delegations.
Newsletter #3 (Figures 113-123) provides information on the updated test sites: Amanora Park Town, Pune; Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) office building, Pune; College of Engineering of Pune (COEP Hostel Campus), Pune; Stream Treatment at the Indradhanushya (Rainbow) Museum, Rajendranagar, Pune; Ordnance Factory (OFAJ), Nagpur; Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), Dayanand Park, Jaripatka, Nagpur, NaWaTech Mid-term Meeting, Pune, 1st NaWaTech International Workshop: SME Breeding and Entrepreneurship Development, NaWaTech 3rd Review Meeting, Vienna, 2nd NaWaTech International Workshop: India and Europe Business Matchmarking in the Water Sector, NaWaTech Community of Practice (Information for joining the CoP, including the contact points’ details of both Pune and Nagpur delegations), NaWaTech dissemination activities and upcoming Events.
Newsletter #4 (Figures 142-133) provides information on NaWaTech project (general information), the updated test sites: Amanora Park Town, Pune; Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) office building, Pune; College of Engineering of Pune (COEP Hostel Campus), Pune; Stream Treatment at the Indradhanushya (Rainbow) Museum, Rajendranagar, Pune; Ordnance Factory (OFAJ), Nagpur; Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), Dayanand Park, Jaripatka, Nagpur, NaWaTech 4th Review Meeting, Pune & Nagpur, India, NaWaTech training programme for technologies and business development in natural wastewater treatment systems, training programme on appropriate wastewater treatment for housing complexes, townships and small communities – a NaWaTech experience, the NaWaKit, NaWaTech Final Conference: International Conference on Innovations in Sustainable Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems (ISWATS), information for joining the CoP, including the contact points’ details of both Pune and Nagpur delegations and NaWaTech next key events.
Leaflet for NaWaTech Training Programme in India
Additional dissemination and promotion material was prepared with the purpose of informing about the upcoming Training Programme for Technologies and Business Development in Natural Wastewater Treatment, held in Yashada, Baner Road (Pune). The six-months Training Programme was designed to provide participants with the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes to start or widen their business in the wastewater treatment sector in India, being able to plan, design and commission adapted technologies and systems ensuring their sustainability (Figures 134-135).
NaWaTech recommendation papers
The NaWaTech publications I and II consisted of 2 recommendation papers: Recommendation Paper I “Implementation of NaWaTech approaches in India considering the financial, environmental, social, institutional and technical aspects“ (Meinhold, K., Labhasetwar, P., Pophali, G. R., Panse, D., Nagarnaik, P. (2015): Implementation of NaWaTech approaches in India considering the financial, environmental, social, institutional and technical aspects) and Recommendation Paper II ‘”Ensuring Sustainability of NaWaTech systems in India” (Meinhold, K., Nicolics, S., Pophali, G. R., Panse, D., Labhasetwar, P.K. Langergraber, G. (2015): Ensuring Sustainability of NaWaTech Systems in India). These papers will be merged and published by the Indian coordinator NEERI with an ISBN number (i.e. it will be one publication with two main parts) at the end of NaWaTech-India (extension has been granted until September 2016).
The target audience for these recommendation papers encompasses practitioners, authorities, and municipalities.
Publication III was a Special issue of Sustainable Sanitation Practice (SSP) Journal. The last of the NaWaTech publication series was comprised of a special issue of the Sustainable Sanitation Practice (SSP) journal (ISSN 2308-5797) on the NaWaTech project and its main results and achievements. SSP is published quarterly and is available for free online at www.ecosan.at/ssp. The 14 papers of the NaWaTech special issue of SSP (Issue #25 published on the 20th of January 2016) are compiled in Table 6.
Besides, the project and its results were published and/or presented at conferences within this reporting period in order to achieve the maximum dissemination of the project results.
NaWaTech publications and presentations
In order to achieve the maximum dissemination of the project results, the partners made different kinds of publications (journal papers (including a special issue of the SSP Journal as already explained), conference proceedings) and presentations at conferences in both Europe and India (poster presentations, oral presentations).
NaWaTech Video
A short film was produced (approximately 7- 8 minutes), giving a condensed but complete overview on the project. The main issues included in the film are: state-of-the art of sanitation in India, associated problems, the NaWaTech approach, how the different technologies/systems work, where and how these can be implemented and maintained, the NaWaTech consortium (Figures 136-143).
SEECON was in charge of sub-contracting and supervising the establishment of this movie. The company UNITY Media Production was selected. Key partners such as BIOAZUL (for MBR and SBR), IRIDRA (for wetlands) and SERI (for planted filters) were in continuous communication with ESF and SEECON for the development of the 3D animations of the technologies. The video presents a collection of 3D animations of the technologies, shootings in all pilot projects in Pune and Nagpur and a description of the project. It was finished on December 29th, 2015. It is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfiiUT-WGws&feature=youtu.be and selected snapshots are presented below.
Deliverables resulting from this task were deliverables D5.4 “NaWaTech newsletter 3” and D5.6 “NaWaTech newsletter 4”, responsibility of BIOAZUL and submitted on March 11th, 2015 and December 1st, 2015 respectively, as well as D5.11 “NaWaTech publications I”, D5.12 “NaWaTech publications II” and D5.13 “NaWaTech publications III”, responsibility of TTZ and submitted on December 22nd, 2015 and January 20th, 2016 respectively.
Task 5.2: development of technical notes for SMEs and end-users. Task leader: BIOAZUL.
In order to disseminate the knowledge gained in WP1, WP2 and WP3, it is important to translate these scientific results into a ready source of information, ensuring the uptake practice of NaWaTech systems by practitioners. The selected methodology was the elaboration of technical notes. The main target group of the NaWaTech technical notes are practitioners and service providers (SMEs). The technical notes prepared were: Membrane Bioreactor (MBR): BIOAZUL, Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR), treatment wetlands, vertical garden, eco-filtration Bank and Sludge Drying Reed Bed. The technical notes included information on technology description, design criteria for the Indian context and costs and maintenance. They were revised to include more experience for the correct design and implementation in the Indian context considering climatic, social, financial, environmental and institutional conditions.
The technical notes are available online at the site of the NaWaKit (http://www.sswm.info/category/step-nawatech/introduction) and in the public library section of the NaWaTech website.
The final deliverable, D5.7 “Technical notes”, responsibility of SEECON, was produced and the last version was finally submitted on January 19th, 2016.
Task 5.3: development of policy briefs. Task leader: IWWA.
Among the results to be delivered by the Indian consortium there was a Policy Brief to be used among decision and policymakers in India, outlining the rational for promoting and adopting decentralised and natural water and wastewater management systems, as compared to conventional systems. SEECON supported SERI in the production of this Policy Brief. It was suggested to include: context and importance of the problem, current practices and approaches, and their implications, a short overview of the policy option(s) in focus, an argument illustrating why and how the current or proposed approach is failing, evidence-based policy recommendations, a breakdown of the specific practical steps or measures that need to be implemented, a closing paragraph re-emphasising the importance of action and further information.
Task 5.4: integration of technical notes and policy briefs in NaWaTech decision support kit (the NaWaKit). Task leader: SEECON.
The NaWaKit is an online platform (www.sswm.info/category/step-nawatech/introduction) containing all the key results of NaWaTech project, a Specific Topic Entry Page (STEP) to the Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM) Toolbox (www.sswm.info) that was developed by the NaWaTech consortium as part of the NaWaTech project. The NaWaKit was designed as a one-shop information tool to provide the needed technical and business strategy tools to support water practitioners when conceiving, launching and growing a new venture in the water and wastewater sector. Furthermore, this STEP presents key information about technological options for the implementation of appropriate technologies, as well as the results of the case studies implemented in Pune and Nagpur in Maharashtra, India. The NaWaKit contains all the key results and gathered information of the R&D project NaWaTech, that aims at maximising the exploitation of natural and compact technical systems and processes for the effective management of municipal water resources in urbanised areas of India (Figure 144). The information is organised in 3 modules:
- Module 1: NaWaTech Basics. This module contains an introduction to NaWaTech, including the current situation of water management in India as well as a presentation of the NaWaTech approach. Furthermore, a list of 23 appropriate technologies for water supply and use, wastewater treatment, sludge treatment and water reuse/recharge for the Indian urban context are presented, including a set of examples in India and other parts of the world. Finally, this Module presents the 6 case studies describing the project sites in Pune and Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. The Technical Notes were also uploaded for download in the relevant factsheets (Figure 145).
- Module 2: NaWaTech Business Development. This module presents a number of tools for the development of Business Models in the water and sanitation sector, such as the Business Model Canvas, the Blue Ocean Strategy and tools to scan the business environment. Furthermore, a second section contains a group of factsheets to support entrepreneurs while writing their business plan, considering marketing components, action plans, risk analysis and financial issues. A total of 17 Factsheets comprise this Module.
Module 3: A guide for successful NaWaTech Project. This module presents the steps to follow to develop a NaWaTech Safety and Operation and Maintenance Plan, which allows sustaining infrastructure projects under the Indian urban conditions. A total of 3 factsheets were produced: technology selection and design, implementation of NaWaTech projects and safety and O&M planning.
In order to disseminate the results obtained in NaWaTech, the partners decided to write the experience of all implementation projects in Pune and Nagpur using the template of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, SuSanA. A total of 5 factsheets are now available containing a summary of the implemented case studies, existing a direct link in the NaWaKit to the PDF version of the complete NaWaTech case studies with all details, and they are also available at SuSanA platform (http://www.susana.org/en/resources/case-studies).
Every single open-source reference listed by the NaWaTech partners during the writing of the NaWaTech compendium had a direct link to the pdf document cited. This fact makes the section of the Appropriate Technologies a complete library for practitioners.
The final version of the NaWaKit was ready by December 17th 2015. Related deliverables were D5.16 “NaWaKit beta” and D5.18 “NaWaKit”, responsibility of SEECON and submitted to the EC on April 30th, 2015 and December 21st, 2015 respectively.
Task 5.5: international workshops and EU-India research partnership seminars. Task leader: TTZ.
Three specialised international workshops were conducted in the frame of the NaWaTech project. Besides the consortium members, participants mainly included young scientists, researchers, and practitioners (entrepreneurs and SMEs), both from European countries and from India.
- 1st NaWaTech International Workshop.
The 1st NaWaTech International workshop was held in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia BarcelonaTech (Barcelona, Spain) on Friday, 29th of November 2013. The over 60 participants enjoyed the sessions "Constructed Wetlands as a low-cost natural technology for water treatment – technical aspects and experiences", "Environmental management tools supporting decisions in river basins", and the poster session "Case studies on sustainable water management in developing countries". The workshop was finalised with a round table were the topic “low-cost natural technologies and sustainable water management in developing countries” and, particularly in India, was the main focus, being this round table integrated by experts from both the NaWaTech project and the UPC (Figures 146-147).
- 2nd NaWaTech International Workshop: SME Breeding and Entrepreneurship Development.
Alongside the consortium meeting, the 2nd International workshop for SME Breeding and Entrepreneurship Development was held in Amanora Park Town (Pune, India) on Wednesday, 9th of April 2014 with the aim to bring under a single roof a plethora of enthusiastic, committed and ingenious individuals and streamline their energies through two ongoing approaches: Cewas South Asia and NaWaTech. Cewas South Asia is a unique institution combining advanced education and assistance to create Business Start-Ups.
The Workshop boasted of an expert panel of dignitaries with an impressive record in the water, sanitation and resource management sectors to introduce participating students, practitioners, entrepreneurs and SME representatives to opportunities extraordinaire within the scope of the cewas South Asia and NaWaTech.
The main outcomes of the Workshop were the creation of an encouraging platform for aspiring entrepreneurs, identification of potential participants for the SME Training Programme 2015 under NaWaTech, as well as entrepreneurs as participants for cewas South Asia 2014, dissemination of NaWaTech activities and potential uptake by existing SMEs, the extension of the NaWaTech community of practice and the formation of networking opportunities with the best international minds in the sector.
The participants enjoyed different sessions such as "The SSWM approach: mitigating challenges in the water and sanitation sector", some practical business cases on "Mapping their Success Stories”, and group works with the participants “Translating Ideas into Business Models”. The workshop was finalised with the group work presentations and discussions and the planification of the future trainings under NaWaTech and cewas South Asia (Figure 148).
- 3rd NaWaTech International Workshop: India and Europe Business Matchmaking in the Water Sector.
The 3rd NaWaTech International Workshop: India and Europe Business Matchmaking took place in Vienna on Wednesday, 19th November 2014 at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU University) organised by the Institute of Sanitary Engineering and Water Pollution Control at the Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment.
The workshop was organised in order to bring together individuals such as entrepreneurs, consultants experts, enginers and other key actors both from India and Europe who would like to to start their own business in the emerging water sector in India, as well as existing small and medium businesses that are looking for to expand their portfolio including sustainable products and services and/or initiate businesses in India.
In the Worksop agenda were included a Seminar and a 2-day field visit around Vienna and an optional field visit around Florence.
In the seminar the participants listened to some presentations related to the business opportunities in the Indian water sector, case studies of successful business establishments, followed by an interactive session with all participants, to better identify opportunities and constraintsand make networking. In Vienna the participants visited the main wastewater treatment plant, the water supply facilities, the bank filtration site of water supply and natural treatment systems (constructed wetlands). During the 2-day field visit around Florence they went to the constructed treatment wetlands designed and implemented by IRIDRA (Figures 149-153).
The resulting deliverable, D5.20 “report on international NaWaTech workshops”, responsibility of TTZ, was submitted on August 10th, 2015.
WORK PACKAGE 6: SME BREEDING. WP leader: SEECON.
This work package was designed in order to achieve the specific objective 3 of this project: “ensure the interest and potential benefit to SMEs and the beneficial economic impact to the sector concerned”. All the economic and financial aspects of the proposed technologies, and market studies and business models for SMEs will be addressed in this work package.
Tasks 6.1: identification of business opportunities and market survey for NaWaTech products, 6.2: mapping of existing SMEs and identification of capacity gaps and 6.3: integration of SMEs in NaWaTech capacity development approaches. Task leaders: SERI, IWWA and ESF respectively.
These tasks were focused on the training and coaching of NaWaTech entrepreneurs. Deliverables of tasks 6.1 6.2 and 6.3 were part of the Indian workplan, and SERI and ESF were the leaders. SEECON, as the WP leader and main trainer in task 6.4 supported the Indian partners in the mapping of existing SMEs and the definition of the capacity gaps, as well as the analysis of the business opportunities.
SEECON carried out a study about the market opportunities of new Indian based SMEs in the wastewater sector, which was published in the Sustainable Sanitation Journal, by EcoSan Club. This article presented an overview of the wastewater management market in India and the external and internal environmental factors faced by new SMEs that affect their success in providing sustainable products and services in the sector.
In addition, ESF carried out a mapping exercise to identify the SMEs in the water and sanitation sector in India (Figure 154). ESF collected secondary data and developed an online survey questionnaire to identify their location, field of work, expectations, weakness/threats and opportunities. More than 250 SMEs were identified, working in water, safety and clean technologies. According to ESF, their main expectations are: technical trainings on technologies, replicable products from the research, finding appropriate partners, internationalisation strategies for the SMEs and direct advertising of products and services. Their major constraints are the lack of funds and lack of experience with innovative technologies, meanwhile they consider the new enabling policies and the size of the market as key opportunities.
Task 6.4: supporting of SMEs to integrate NaWaTech in their business plan and developing their business ideas. Task leaders: SEECON.
The general objective of this task was supporting of SMEs to integrate NaWaTech in their business plan and developing their business ideas. The way to transfer this knowledge was through the development of a training programme. The aim of the training was to provide participants with the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes to start or widen their businesses in the water and wastewater treatment sector in India, being able to plan, design and commission adapted technologies and systems ensuring their sustainability.
- NaWaTech training programme for technologies and business development in natural wastewater treatment systems.
The training programme on “business development in sustainable planning and implementation of wastewater technologies” took place from April 9th to 19th, 2015 in Pune, India. This training program, aimed at existing SMEs in the water sector and designed based on the results of the NaWaTech project, focused on developing decentralised systems that are flexible and cost-effective, require low O&M efforts and optimise water use by reusing wastewater. ESF promoted the training (together with NEERI) and contacted potential participants, organised the venue and coordinated the logistics of the 10 days training (Figures 155-158).
The addressed participants were existing SMEs in the water and sanitation sector that wanted to expand their portfolio to widen or include natural and compact wastewater treatment systems and related services. SME’s staff members were encouraged to participate as teams according to their field of work, being engineers and technicians taking part during the technical training, and the SME’s marketing specialists and business managers participating in the business development module, with all participants being present for the NaWaTech Safety Sanitation Plans.
A total of 24 people participated in the training programme, representing:
- 7 SMEs: Water Managers, Godrej & Boyce, Vijay Environmental, Engineering Pvt. Ltd., McLin Consultants, Unity Consultants, ELMA-ECO Tunisa.
- 2 private organisations: CSE India, CDD India.
- 2 public organisations: NEERI (3 potential entrepreneurs), MJP.
- Training programme on appropriate wastewater treatment for housing complexes, townships and small communities – a NaWaTech experience.
The 2nd NaWaTech training programme on “appropriate wastewater treatment for housing complexes, townships and small communities” took place from August 17th to 20th, 2015 in Nagpur, India. It was organised by NEERI. The aim was that, at the end of the training program, the participants were able to understand the working and design principles of natural wastewater treatment systems, plan sustainable wastewater treatment systems, considering the tendering and statutory requirements in India, and specifically in Nagpur, prepare NaWaTech Safety Sanitation Plans considering the different stakeholders involved to ensure the sustainability of the projects, for SMEs, design successful business models to commercialise natural and compact wastewater treatment systems and services, considering the trends of the business environment and the customer needs, and for organisations of the public sector, design successful business models to deliver value to their customer, ensuring the financial sustainability of the water and wastewater investments (Figures 159-162).
A total of 31 people participated in the training programme, representing:
- 4 SMEs: HES Nagpur, Lars Enviro Nagpur, M. M. Enviro Nagpur, Toyam Technologies Pune.
- 4 private organisations: CSE New Delhi, Adani Ports Mundra.
- 23 public organisations: CPCB Delhi, Andhra Pradesh PCB, Chattisgarhh State PCB, Gujarat PCB, Madhya Pradesh PCB, Rajasthan State PCB, Tamilnadu PCB, Maharashtra PCB, Nagpur MC, Aurangabad MC, MJP, Sulabh Academy New Delhi, NIT Nagpur.
SEECON published an article called “Supporting NaWaTech Entrepreneurs and SMEs tapping the Indian Wastewater Market” in the Sustainable Sanitation Journal, compiled by EcoSan Club. This article presents the opportunities offered by the growing wastewater market in India, as well as the current weaknesses of SMEs in the sector, together with a description of the activities and tools developed by the NaWaTech consortium to help overcome the current challenges.
All the results were compiled in deliverable D6.1 “Guidelines on the elaboration and implementation of a business plan based on the NaWaTech approach”, responsibility of SEECON and submitted on December 15th, 2015.
Potential Impact:
During the last 3.5 years (1st of July 2012 to 31st of December 2015) the NaWaTech project promoted integrated water management approaches to combat water shortages in urban India, while focusing on natural and compact technical water treatment systems. Five NaWaTech case study sites could successfully be implemented while the accompanying extensive stakeholder involvement facilitated the interest and, subsequently, concrete plans for four more replication sites. By means of the NaWaKit, the project results will contribute to help water practitioners and entrepreneurs implement further systems as well as to grow their venture in the water and wastewater sector. In this paper the main findings and main achievements of NaWaTech are summarised and an outlook on future activities is given.
Summary of main findings
Key lessons learnt from case study implementation
At the end of 2015 five case study sites had been successfully implemented. Only one case study site (Dayanand Park, Nagpur) could not be finalised yet, due to various obstacles (however it will be finalised early 2016 due to an extension of the Indian part of the NaWaTech project). The major results and lessons learnt from the case study implementation include:
- A detailed feasibility study in the beginning is very helpful, where local site conditions such as geotechnical characteristics, underground networks, prevailing wastewater properties, volume of wastewater to be treated, reuse activities expected, availability of power supply, groundwater level, etc. should be described. This reduces the risk of having to change the design at implementation stage. Landscape planning should also be considered from the start, in order to fit the system better into the surrounding environment (especially important for public sites).
- Intervention sites are located in different settings e.g. the College of Engineering Pune (COEP) hostel campus belongs to an academic institution and the wastewater treatment plant will help students to learn from the plant; wastewater treatment plant and reuse in watering the lawn in Dayanand Park, Nagpur provides opportunities for assistance in maintaining the treatment plan through park users. In addition, different settings provide higher probability of replication of these treatment plants.
- The selection of the contractor is a critical factor, capacity building of the contractor (e.g. regarding technical features, advantages of the new system, supply chain management, etc.) is highly recommended as implemented systems are not well-known yet in India. It is important to ensure that the contracting firm appointed has considerable experience in civil works and not just plug and play type water and sanitation projects.
- In the scheduling of the work activities the monsoon season has to be taken in account: from July to end of September it may be very difficult to perform certain activities, especially excavation, water-proofing and concrete works.
- In general, all construction materials needed for implementation of the natural and compact technical treatment technologies applied within NaWaTech were locally available. However, as some systems are relatively novel to India, the search for selected parts may be time-consuming.
- In comparison with the European context the time to be considered for design, land preparation, construction and commissioning, may have to be increased. Potential issues with providers, permissions needed from authorities, etc. may prolong the time needed. Taking this into account can help avoid delay when calculating the project delivery date.
- Regarding operation and maintenance, a high focus needs to be put on hands-on training and learning, as operators on site usually work on a memory basis. Nevertheless, manuals for the site, check-lists, logbooks, etc. are of importance as well.
- So far only limited research could be performed on the sites. However, one can already say that treatment performance is generally good, with the higher temperatures in India having a potentially beneficial impact. Influence of load variability (e.g. during monsoon period) need to be carefully monitored in the future.
- Stakeholder selection and participation is essential across the entire project timeframe to create an overall supportive environment.
- Association with statutory agencies such as state pollution control board and municipal corporations was advantageous in seeking approval for setting up of wastewater treatment plants.
Dissemination of knowledge
A strong focus within the NaWaTech project was on disseminating the results and experiences gained in the project. The main activities and results in this respect are summarised below.
The NaWaTech website
The NaWaTech website (www.nawatech.net) was established with the beginning of the project. It contains a public library from which a number of resource material produced within the project can be downloaded, e.g. posters and flyers, newsletters, publications, project reports, or the different MSc thesis produced by the students involved in the twinning programme.
The NaWaKit
The NaWaKit is a knowledge platform for water practitioners in India available at www.sswm.info/category/step-nawatech/introduction. It is a Specific Topic Entry Page (STEP) to the Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management (SSWM) Toolbox, containing all the key results and information of the project. The NaWaKit has been designed to provide the needed technical and business strategy tools to support water practitioners (such as local SMEs, service providers, entrepreneurs and consultants working in the water and sanitation sector in India) when conceiving, launching and growing a new venture in the water and wastewater sector as well as to guide them during the design, implementation, operation and maintenance of decentralised water and wastewater treatment systems in urban India. It presents key information about technological options for the implementation of appropriate technologies, as well as the results of the case studies implemented in Nagpur and Pune in Maharashtra, India. The information is organised in 3 modules:
- NaWaTech Basics, including information on the project, the current situation of water management in India, the different case studies, as well as the different technologies considered.
- NaWaTech Business Development: This module presents a number of tools for the development of Business Models in the water and sanitation sector as well as a group of factsheets to support entrepreneurs while writing their business plan, considering marketing components, action plans, risk analysis and financial issues.
- A guide for successful NaWaTech Project: This module presents the steps to follow to develop a NaWaTech Safety and Operation and Maintenance Plan, which allows sustaining infrastructure projects under the Indian urban conditions.
The NaWaTech video
The NaWaTech partners produced a video about the project, focusing on the case study sites and the different technologies implemented, including shots of the sites. The video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfiiUT-WGws&feature=youtu.be.
NaWaTech workshops and training activities
In order to ensure the sustainable uptake in practice and a positive beneficial effect on the water and sanitation sector, three NaWaTech workshops and two training programmes (one in Pune and one in Nagpur, respectively) were carried out.
Three specialised international workshops were conducted in the frame of the NaWaTech project, in Barcelona at the facilities of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya•BarcelonaTech, Spain, at Amanora Park Town, Pune, India, as well as at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU University), Austria. Participants mainly included young scientists, researchers, and practitioners (entrepreneurs and SMEs), both from European countries and from India. The workshop in Barcelona focused on natural technologies and sustainable water management in developing countries, the one in Pune focused on SME breeding and entrepreneurship development, and the workshop in Vienna on business matchmaking in the water sector.
In Pune, a 10 day training programme on “business development in sustainable planning and implementation of wastewater technologies” was carried out in April 2015, aimed at existing SMEs (24 participants in total). The programme was designed to provide participants with the needed knowledge, skills and attitudes to start or widen their businesses in the wastewater treatment sector in India, being able to plan, design and commission adapted technologies and systems ensuring their sustainability. At the end of the training, the participants were able to design, plan and implement natural wastewater treatment systems, such as anaerobic technologies, wetlands systems as well as compact systems, such as MBR and SBR; design successful business models to commercialise natural and compact wastewater treatment systems and services, considering the trends of the business environment, the competitors and the customer needs; and prepare NaWaTech Safety Sanitation Plans to ensure the sustainability of the projects commissioned to their clients.
The 2nd NaWaTech training programme on “appropriate wastewater treatment for housing complexes, townships and small communities” took place in August 2015 in Nagpur, India. The aim was that participants at the end of the training could understand the working and design principles of natural wastewater treatment systems, plan sustainable wastewater treatment systems, considering the tendering and statutory requirements in India, and specifically in Nagpur, and prepare NaWaTech Safety Sanitation Plans considering the different stakeholders involved to ensure the sustainability of the projects.
Participants included mainly SMEs as well as public organisations (31 participants in total).
Presentation of NaWaTech results at conferences and publications
NaWaTech research results have been presented at various conferences. Main events included:
- Keynote presentation “The role of constructed treatment wetlands in resources-oriented sanitation systems“ by Günter Langergraber, BOKU, at the 11th IWA Conference on “Small Water & Wastewater Systems and Sludge Management“, 27-30 October, 2013 Harbin, China.
- “Decentralised sewage management practices and natural water systems”, oral presentation by Dr. Girish Pohpali at the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board Meeting. 26-27 August 2014, Nagpur, India.
- “Natural water systems and treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanized areas in India”, oral presentation by Dr. Pranav Nagarnaik at Saph Pani Conference: Natural treatment systems for safe and sustainable water supply in India. 18-19 September 2014, New Delhi, India.
- “Leading innovative and outstanding natural water treatment technologies implemented at various test sites at Nagpur & Pune under NaWaTech Project”, poster presentation by Sandeep Yadav, Neha Patwardhan and Varad Shende at International Knowledge Exposition. 18-21 November 2014, Greater Noida, Delhi NCR, India.
- “Different urban scenarios for wastewater treatment and recycling: NaWaTech Project“, oral presentation by Neha Patwardhan, ESF, at the 47th IWWA Annual Convention, February 2015, Kolkata, India.
- “Application of the NaWaTech safety and O&M planning approach for resources-oriented wastewater treatment systems in Pune, India“, oral presentation by Sandra Nicolics, BOKU; “Vertical Gardens for greywater treatment and recycling in dense urban areas: a case-study in Pune“, oral presentation by Fabio Masi, IRIDRA; as well as “The NaWaTech safety and O&M planning approach“, oral presentation by Günter Langergraber, BOKU, at the workshop on “Sanitation Safety Planning - From concept to practice“; all at the IWA Water and Development Congress “Water Security for Sustainable Growth“, 18-22 October 2015, Dead Sea, Jordan.
- “The NaWaTech project: Natural water systems and treatment technologies to cope with water shortages in urbanised areas in India”, oral presentation by Kathrin Meinhold, ttz Bremerhaven at the 19th Forum on Eco-innovation “Business opportunities in Eco-innovation. Materials and products for a sustainable future”, 27 October 2015, Seoul, South Korea.
Furthermore, several publications were produced:
- Compendium of Natural Water Systems & Treatment Technologies to Cope with Water Shortages in Urbanised Areas in India (2013): Barreto Dillon, L., Doyle, L., Langergraber, G., Satish, S. & Pophali, G. (Editors). Berlin: epubli GmbH.
- Ávila, C., Garfí, M., García, J. (2013): Three-stage hybrid constructed wetland system for wastewater treatment and reuse in warm climate regions. Ecol Eng 61, 43-49.
- Samsó, R., García, J. (2013): Bacteria distribution and dynamics in constructed wetlands based on modelling results. Sci Total Environ 461-462, 430-440.
- Ávila, C., Garfí, M., García, J. (2016): Influence of hydraulic loading rate, simulated storm events and seasonality on the treatment performance of an experimental three-stage hybrid constructed wetland system. Ecological Engineering, accepted.
- Masi F., Bresciani R., Rizzo A., Edathoot A., Patwardhan N., Panse D., Langergraber G.: Green walls for greywater treatment and recycling in dense urban areas: a case-study in Pune. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, submitted November 2015.
- Nicolics, S., Hewitt, D., Pophali, G.R. Masi, F., Nagarnaik, P., Panse, D., Labhasetwar, P.K. Meinhold, K., Langergraber, G.: Application of the NaWaTech safety and O&M planning approach re-use oriented wastewater treatment lines at the Ordnance Factory Ambajhari, Nagpur, India. In: Vymazal, J. (Ed.): Proceedings of the 9th International Workshop “Nutrient Cycling and Retention in Natural and Constructed Wetlands“, 26-29 March 2015, Třeboň, Czech Republic, Springer, submitted.
Scientific papers related to NaWaTech published in conference proceedings include:
- Nicolics, S., Masi, F., Pophali, G.R. Patwardhan, N., Satish, S., Labhasetwar, P.K. Doyle, L., Langergraber, G. (2014): Safety planning approach for ensuring long-term operation of resources-oriented systems. In: Zhou, Q., Zhai, J., (Eds.): Conference Proceedings 14th IWA Specialized Group Conference on “Wetland systems for Water Pollution Control“, 12-16 October 2014, Shanghai, China, pp.43-53.
- Knauer, C. Doyle, L. (2014): Short Rotation Plantations Irrigated with Wastewater: Evaluation of Suitable Species for India.In: Hoffmann, C., Baxter, D., Maniatis, K., Grassi, A., Helm, P (Eds): Papers of the 22nd European Biomass Conference. Extracted from the Proceedings of the International Conference held in Hamburg, Germany, on the 23-26 June 2014, pp.332-338.
- Nicolics, S., Edathoot, A., Patwardhan, N., Staribacher, E., Masi, F., Caballero, A., Panse, D., Labhasetwar, P.K. Meinhold, K., Langergraber, G. (2015): Application of the NaWaTech safety and O&M planning approach for resources-oriented wastewater treatment systems in Pune, India. Full paper at the IWA Water and Development Congress “Water Security for Sustainable Growth“, 18-22 October 2015, Dead Sea, Jordan.
- Masi, F., Bresciani, R., Rizzo, A., Edathoot, A., Patwardhan, N., Panse, D., Langergraber, G. (2015): Vertical Gardens for greywater treatment and recycling in dense urban areas: a case-study in Pune. Full paper at the IWA Water and Development Congress „Water Security for Sustainable Growth“, 18-22 October 2015, Dead Sea, Jordan.
Twinning of Students
Scientific cooperation, as any other cooperation activity lives much from the motivation and personal engagement of the stakeholders involved and their intercultural understanding. The experiences of the consortium members have shown that students from research groups of different geographical and cultural background can be efficient vectors for promoting a close collaboration with the laboratories. Therefore, within NaWaTech a twinning of students programme was initiated, whereas European students had the chance to work in India and Indian students in Europe, within the NaWaTech project. Besides contributing to the student’s thesis (to date, 11 MSc theses and 1 PhD thesis were finalised and 3 MSc theses and PhD theses, respectively, are still on-going), the twinning programme contributed considerably to the improvement of the research partnership and the establishment of the foundations for a long-term EU-India collaboration for water technologies.
Outlook
A main aim of NaWaTech was to have an impact beyond the project’s set timeframe. In this regard, the following achievements can be highlighted:
NaWaTech replications
Already within the project timeframe the opportunity to replicate water treatment systems considering the NaWaTech approach has arisen, facilitated amongst others by the extensive stakeholder engagement within the project. NaWaTech replications include the following:
- Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL), Gumgaon, Nagpur (100 m3/day): A treatment plant is proposed to be setup to treat sewage from staff quarters of MOIL, Gumgaon near Nagpur.
- Navegaon Sadhu village (50 m3/day): A model village in Nagpur District, where sewage is discharged through open drains is also going to adopt natural treatment system. The treated effluent is proposed for recycle and reuse for gardening and irrigation purposes.
- Patansavangi Village (treatment capacity is yet to be decided) through Zilla Parishad (District Agency),Nagpur.
- Vyankatesh city (Housing Complex near Nagpur) to treat 30 m3/day.
The treatment system will also be included in the Schedule of Rates of Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP).
Integration of results into the cewas start-up programme
NaWaTech results will feed into the cewas start-up programme, targeting specifically Indian entrepreneurs via its South Asia branch. Cewas is a Swiss non-profit association specialised in improving business practices in water and sanitation through training and awareness raising so as to increase the sector’s integrity and sustainability. Its start-up programme provides aspiring entrepreneurs with the necessary skills, knowledge and networks to transform an idea into a working start-up in the water and sanitation sector. Key business knowledge and practical skill development is combined with support from a diverse community of entrepreneurs and water sector experts.
The NaWaTech conference
The International Conference on Innovations in Sustainable Water and wastewater Treatment Systems (ISWATS) will take place on the 21st – 23rd of April 2016 in Pune, India. The conference will include presentations of findings from all four projects supported under the framework of the India – EU Science & Technology Cooperation in water technology and management (besides NaWaTech, also SARASWATI, SWINGS, and Eco India). The strategic objectives of the conference are to exchange knowledge, technologies, guidelines and tools for implementation and operation among academia and public authorities, skilled service providers and SMEs, enabling research partnerships and creating favourable environments for the application of treatment systems and technologies for sustainable water/wastewater treatment, reuse and recycle. More information about the conference can be found at www.neeri.res.in/iswats.
Consolidation of the CoP
The NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP) brings together key stakeholders from academia and research, industry, end users and decision makers in the water and sanitation sector (overall approx. 200 members). Both the Pune as well as the Nagpur chapter of the CoP aim to continue after the official end of NaWaTech, in order to facilitate the further replication of NaWaTech sites, offer internships/research opportunities for students/young researchers or site visits for interested institutes or organisations. The continuation of the CoP will mainly be facilitated via the Indian Water Works Association (IWWA).
IWWA has 34 centres all around India, and two of them are concretely in Pune and Nagpur, offering the opportunity to embed the NaWaTech CoP herein. The exact future governing structures and procedures will be discussed at a CoP event in February 2016 and officially launched at the NaWaTech conference.
Main achievements of NaWaTech:
- 5 case study sites featuring natural and compact technical water treatment systems based on the NaWaTech approach have successfully been put into operation.
- Concrete plans for site replication in other locations in India have been established.
- A knowledge platform for water practitioners in India, the NaWaKit, has been launched containing all the key results and information of the project (available at www.sswm.info/category/step-nawatech/introduction).
- Continuous stakeholder involvement was achieved via the creation of the NaWaTech Community of Practice (CoP), which will continue to operate after the official end of the project.

List of Websites:
The website of the project is www.nawatech.net.
In addition to it, the project also counts with a Facebook page for the Community of Practice (CoP): www.facebook.com/pages/NaWaTech-Community-of-Practice/362587563828187.
Relevant contact details (not all people have been working on the project for the whole 36 months, but they all have participated at some point):
- TTZ, Lucía Doyle, [e-mail]
- TTZ, Katie Meinhold, [e-mail].
- TTZ, Mirko Hänel, [e-mail].
- SEECON, Johannes Heeb, [e-mail].
- SEECON, Leonellha Barreto-Dillon, [e-mail].
- BOKU, Günter Langergraber, [e-mail].
- BOKU, Sandra Nicolics, [e-mail].
- BOKU, Reinhard Perfler, [e-mail].
- BOKU, Alexander Pressl, [e-mail].
- BOKU, Ernest Mayr, [e-mail].
- UPC, Joan Garcia, [e-mail].
- UPC, Marianna Garfi, [e-mail].
- BIOAZUL, Pilar Zapata-Aranda, [e-mail].
- BIOAZUL, Jose Luis Bribian-Fisac, [e-mail].
- BIOAZUL, Alejandro Caballero-Hernandez, [e-mail].
- BIOAZUL, Ángela Magno-Malagón, [e-mail].
- IRIDRA, Fabio Masi, [e-mail].
- IRIDRA, Riccardo Bresciani, [e-mail].
- IRIDRA, Giulio Conte, [e-mail].
- Kre_Ta, Philip Winkelmeier, [e-mail].
- Kre_Ta, Marlen Kretschmer, [e-mail].
- Kre_Ta, Andreas Tauscher, [e-mail].
- NEERI, Pawan Labhasetwar, [e-mail].
- NEERI, Pranav Nagarnaik, [e-mail].
- NEERI, Girish Pophali, [e-mail].
- ESF, Dayanand Panse, [e-mail].
- ESF, Sreevidya Satish, [e-mail].
- ESF, Ajith Edathoot, [e-mail].
- ESF, Dhawal Patil, [e-mail].
- ESF, Varad Shende, [e-mail].
- SERI, Sandeep Joshi, [e-mail].
- SERI, Sayali Joshi, [e-mail].
- SERI, Pallavi Patil, [e-mail].

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