Smart City Observatories implement REsilient Water Management

Project Information

SCOREwater

Grant agreement ID: 820751

DOI

10.3030/820751

Project closed

EC signature date 3 May 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 30 April 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 5 787 787,50

EU contribution

€ 4 998 727,50

Coordinated by

IVL SVENSKA MILJOEINSTITUTET AB
Sweden

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SCOREwater (Smart City Observatories implement REsilient Water Management)

Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2023-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The goal of the SCOREwater project was to create innovative digital solutions for managing water resources and adapting to climate change in urban environments. The project has developed 12 new services (Annex 1) in three cities addressing flood management (Amersfoort), sewage system optimization (Barcelona), and water quality monitoring at construction sites (Göteborg).

The project suggests 5 policy recommendations (Annex 2):
- set legal requirements for online pollutant monitoring of stormwater
- stimulate the creation of a volume market for sensing technologies
- establish guidelines for employing sensor systems for predictive maintenance and flood control
- enhance data sharing
- create competence development programs

The project developed the SCOREwater platform, based on the open source FIWARE ecosystem. To enhance the sustainability and effectiveness of this type of platform, we conclude that there is a need to:
- establish a Governance Moderator Role for the FIWARE ecosystem, responsible for overseeing its governance structure
- adopt the iSHARE framework (https://ishare.eu/) which will allow organizations to build a secure trust network for data spaces and improve overall data management
- develop comprehensive guidelines, to facilitate replicability and scalability in the water sector
- promote the adoption of open-source solutions, thereby avoiding proprietary lock-ins.

The project made progress in developing and refining business models and associated services with next exploitation steps (Annex 3) and intellectual property strategies. This includes analyzing market demands and user needs, addressing IPR concerns, and sharing best practices. The project has tested and validated a newly approved patent for a sensor (the Turbinator) that measures turbidity in liquid without being in contact with the water (Annex 4). A plan for replication and a guide for municipalities were also developed. Based on the business activities and analyses, our overall conclusion of the project is that for successful commercial implementation of the SCOREwater services and solutions the demand readiness within water utilities and municipalities needs to be raised.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

SCOREwater innovations sums up to 42 prototypes and 55 tests. The 42 prototypes (Annex 5) are comprised of: 17 data software prototypes, 8 data communication prototypes, 8 system prototypes, 4 prototypes of working methods and 5 prototypes of sensor instalments. The 55 tests (Annex 6) are comprised of: 17 software tests, 10 data communication tests, 5 system tests, 4 tests of working methods and 19 sensor tests.

From the SCOREwater prototypes 12 new services were generated, and Key readiness levels and next exploitation steps were assessed (Annex 3). 13 EU markets for application were identified (Annex 7). One of the services developed in the project is the SCOREwater platform (Annex 8), which acts as a broker for data providers and users. The SCOREwater Portal, accessible at https://scorewater-portal.eu is an extension of the platform. The SCOREwater portal includes the datasets from the project, descriptions of the services developed within our project, information about the 3 demonstration cases, and the public project deliverables.

Innovation and collaboration in urban water management was promoted in SCOREwater by conducting large scale demonstrations in Amersfoort, Barcelona, and Göteborg, while at the same time enforcing active local citizen science engagement. In Barcelona, the project also demonstrated the feasibility of a community-level sewage surveillance network within urban areas, via deployment of monitoring stations (Annex 9).

Social and organizational barriers were identified and good practice for resilience tools were established. Recommendations for future initiatives include engaging stakeholders, and developing compelling business cases to ensure continued interest (Annex 10).

SCOREwater dissemination includes 3 published scientific papers and another 4 submitted and pending publication (Annex 11). The project also set up a video showcase page for twelve open-access videos (Annex l2), covering SCOREwater events and presentations, https://vimeo.com/showcase/8938460.

The project participated in the DW2020 synergy group of 5 projects and contributed to the writing of a white paper on the need for digital water in a green Europe (https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2826/661606). In the proposal from the commission in 2022 on amendment of the Council directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment legal requirements on online monitoring of pollutants from stormwater and combined sewage and stormwater systems are proposed, as was suggested by the SCOREwater project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

SCOREwater made advancements in water management by developing digital solutions to address key challenges faced by the water sector. The project's achievements, that go beyond state-of-the-art, lay within three main areas:

1. Innovative stormwater monitoring and adaptive control: SCOREwater introduced new methods for stormwater monitoring and treatment, along with a low-cost water level and quality sensor (the Turbinator). These innovations improve stormwater management and reduce the environmental impact of construction sites. This was demonstrated in Göteborg.

2. AI and machine learning in urban flood management: SCOREwater integrated advanced technologies (for example an LSTM Neural Network) for accurate and timely flood prediction, enabling authorities to take preventive measures and minimize impact on urban areas. The solution provides warnings via the SCOREwater platform. This was demonstrated in Amersfoort.

3. Sewage sociology: This innovative concept utilizes sewage system data to provide insights into public health, guiding information campaigns and public health policies (Annex 13). This was demonstrated in Barcelona.

The wider socio-economic impacts of implementing the products and services from SCOREwater include improved water management practices, enhanced public health and safety, economic benefits, environmental impact reduction, enhanced collaboration and data sharing, and policy and regulation support (Annex 14). Since SCOREwater is an innovation project, most of the technologies developed are not yet ready for market launch and scale-up, the socio-economic impact of Annex 14 should therefore be seen as a future potential. The two major accomplished socio-economic impacts of SCOREwater was to increase demand readiness among water utilities and municipalities participating in the project (Amersfoort, Barcelona and Göteborg) and to increase awareness among a broader audience about digital solutions and the water sector. Examples of the broader audience reached by the project are; visitors at the Universeum science center in Göteborg, citizens taking part in citizens science activities by the City of Amersfoort, municipal divisions in Barcelona interacting with the city’s water management company BCASA.

SCOREwater has demonstrated the potential to improve water management, generate economic value, and address global water and climate change challenges. By fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange among stakeholders, SCOREwater will continue to drive innovation in the water management sector, even after the project ends unlocking new opportunities for sustainable growth and development.

g) Annex 7. Potential markets for SCOREwater services

m) Annex 13. Overview of the sewage sociology workflow

l) Annex 12. Content in SCOREwater video showcase page

n) Annex 14. The wider socio-economic impacts of SCOREwater

a) Annex 1, SCOREwater services

e) Annex 5. SCOREwater innovations (prototypes) and their TRL

k) Annex 11. Scientific publications from SCOREwater

i) Annex 9. Monitoring and sampling station, Barcelona

c) Annex 3. Key readiness levels and next exploitation steps

j) Annex 10. Recommendations on social and organizational enablers

f) Annex 6. SCOREwater innovations (tests)

b) Annex 2, SCOREwater policy recommendations

d) Annex 4. Visual representation of the Turbinator sensor

h) Annex 8. SCOREwater platform