Project description
Microbes remediate contaminants in decentralised wastewater systems
Decentralised wastewater systems – serving homes and communities beyond centralised networks – generate significant environmental and public health burdens, including methane and volatile organic compound emissions, odours and nutrient pollution. They often operate at high cost and with limited technical capacity. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BRIDGE project aims to turn the problem into part of the solution by harnessing specialised microbial cultures that consume methane using nitrite or nitrate as electron acceptors. These cultures will remove pollutants from liquid and gas phases simultaneously. The resulting compact, largely self-managing biofilter with smart real-time monitoring could enable an affordable, scalable upgrade for decentralised wastewater treatment worldwide.
Objective
Decentralized wastewater systems are widespread in EU and worldwide and generate significant socio-economic and public-health costs: methane (CH₄) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, odours, and residual nutrient discharges, all under higher per-capita O&M and scarce technical capacity. The BRIDGE project proposes a first-of-its-kind, low-resource biotech-based solution that leverages nitrite/nitrate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (N-DAMO) mixed cultures to simultaneously abate gas- and liquid-phase contaminants generated by decentralized systems: CH₄ emission are repurposed as the electron donor to denitrify nitrate-bearing effluent, within a plug-and-play anaerobic biofilter with counter-current spraying, minimal electromechanical needs, and smart real-time monitoring for adaptive control and predictive maintenance. The project targets four state-of-the-art gaps: (1) stable N-DAMO biofilm enrichment; (2) a robust, validated unit (PoC→TRL 3–4) tolerant to influent variability; (3) integration pathways and design/operation envelopes for scalable, low-maintenance and affordable deployment; and (4) tailored sensing, analytics, and digital integration for autonomous operation. Methodologically, BRIDGE combines lab enrichment and functional testing, continuous-flow prototyping with long-term validation, multi-physical modelling across scales, Arduino-based monitoring with an ANN-assisted control layer, and techno-economic assessment to derive cost-effective scale-up guidelines. Outcomes include a validated blueprint and guidelines that reduce CH₄/VOC emissions, lower nutrient discharge, and support replication in related sectors (e.g. landfill leachate). A 24-month MSCA fellowship at POLIMI under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Turolla.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering control systems
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computational science multiphysics
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20133 Milano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.