European Water Management Guidelines

Knowledge Generation and Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Water Management 1

Community research

E U R O P E A NCOMMISSION

Knowledge

Generation and Innovative

Technologies for Sustainable Water ManagementConcepts and tools developed and applied in the context of European Community funded research projects

Topic Session FT3.04 organised by the European Commission, Directorate General for Research in the framework of the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City

19th March 2006, 14:30-16:30, Centro Banamex, Montejo House, Room No. 3

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During the last decades, research and technological development have con-tributed to our societies’ advancement in awareness, knowledge and policy insight of the role water plays in our environmental and socio-economic wel-fare, and the need to proactively defend the sustainability of our aquatic eco-systems. This deeper understanding, combined with scientifi c underpinning of the diverse impacts of climate change and all other global change processes, have resulted in a wider recognition of the urgent need for new concepts and tools to support a paradigm shift in the way we plan, manage and use water resources in all aspects of our every day life. Policy, regulatory systems, institu-tions and governance, knowledge management systems and promotion of technological ingenuity, social acceptability and aff ordability are some of the main elements to be taken into account when trying to devise solutions to this complicated equation of a sustainable paradigm shift in water resources management. New conceptual pillars have emerged embracing sustainability, risk assessment and risk management, in an eff ort to harness uncertainty and better simulate real life conditions and - global and local - ecosystem process-es. It has also become evident that the enormous investment in knowledge needed for transformation and harmonised change, adaptive to local water conditions, has to be pursued through wider multi-stakeholder collaborations also beyond national or continental borders.

Water research has been a major component of successive European Union’s environmental research programmes. Over the last 30 years, many interdisciplinary research teams, supported in the context of these programmes, have successfully collaborated in increasing the understanding of the impact of diverse ecological and socio-economic processes on the water cycle, and in developing suitable observational capac-ity, technological solutions and decision support systems towards a more knowledge based ap-proach to water resources management. In a nut-shell, while earlier European research programmes put emphasis on the development of scientifi c knowl-edge to support environmental quality standards and ob-jectives, over the last years emphasis has been shifted to multidisciplinary research to support a transformation towards knowledge based integrated water resources management in the context of global change.

The 5th Community Research Framework Programme (FP5, 1998-2002), with 250 mi Euro invested in 186 projects, represented a turning point in the col-lective European water research eff orts. During its implementation strategic emphasis was attached to integrated water resources management, based on multi-disciplinary/stakeholder problem solving approaches and support to relevant EU policies, and in particular the Water Framework and associated directives and the EU Strategy for Sustainable Development.

The 6th Community Research Framework Programme (FP6, 2002-2006) consolidates further the acquired knowledge, by funding research in new concepts, strategies and tools for the mitigation of global change impact on water resources in Europe and worldwide, in conformity with the vision of

European Union Research and

Technological Development activities

in the fi eld of water – A general background


the European Research Area. FP6 is seeking to mobilise wider and lasting partnerships among knowledge communities in Eu-rope and international co-operation part-ner countries, building on existing founda-tions of decades of scientifi c cooperation in water research. Support provided to the objectives of the EU Water Initiative (EU WI) is a typical example of this new approach.

Moreover, FP6 is promoting research on innova-tive water technologies, which are necessary for achieving Europe’s sustainable growth and competitiveness. In this context it has facili-tated the establishment of the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Plat-form (WSSTP), which is one of the European Technology Platforms established soon after the launching of the European Environment Technology Action Plan (ETAP). The overall objective of this technology platform is the defi nition of a Strategic Research Agenda and an Implementation Plan for sustainable innova-tive technologies to address the global challenges of ensuring safe and secure water supply for diff erent uses and sanitation services, within the framework of integrated water resources management. Moreover, this technology platform shall aim to promote step changes in the technological capacity of the Europe-an water industry, for supporting and strengthening its competitiveness in the world market, and increasing its capacity towards more eff ective contribution to the relevant Millennium Development Goals.

The WSSTP Strategic Research Agenda provides the main contribution of ideas for the next 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) in the fi eld of water research.

The Directorate-General for Research, Environmental Technologies and Pollution Prevention Unit, having recognized the importance of continuously communicating results of past and on-going work as well as future perspec-tives, decided to organize a topic session on Innovative Water Technologies in Europe. The aim of this session is to better articulate, for researchers, policy makers and water practitioners, the multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder concepts and tools for sustainable water resources management developed in the context of projects funded under the Community Research Framework Programmes, to discuss lessons and experiences for the application of inno-vative technologies and present the proposed vision and strategic research agenda of the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP).

The content of supporting presentations related to local actions benefi ting from Community Research Framework Programme investment, which is the core theme of the forum ‘Local Actions for a Global Challenge’, is presented in the following pages:

More information:- European Environment Technology Action Plan (ETAP):

http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/environment/policy/etap_en.htm- EU Water Initiative (EUWI): • europa.eu.int/comm./research/water-initiative • www.euwi.net- Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WSSTP): www.wsstp.org

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FLOODRELIEF

Local Action ID: LA1784

Forecasting fl ood events: European technology at the leading edge

Real-time fl ood forecasting systems, which link weather forecasts, the state of the river catchments, river discharges and water levels, can be used to respond to fl oods as they occur and to reduce their costs in terms of lives, property and the breakdown of infrastructure. In comparison to construction of major fl ood protection works such as dams, dikes and polders, fl ood fore-casting is cost eff ective and the environmental impacts are minimal. More importantly, when used for fl ood warning these systems can save lives. By using new technologies to improve fl ood forecasting we can forecast fl oods ahead of time rather than clearing up afterwards. Current fl ood forecasting and warning systems have several limitations, such as insuffi cient lead-time to provide accurate fl ood warnings, inadequate spatial and temporal reso-lution of the real-time rainfall observations and forecasts for fl ood produc-ing storm and little integration of diff erent sources of forecast information. Moreover their ability to consider the uncertainties in estimating and fore-casting precipitation and fl ood discharges is very limited, their application at regional level is also limited and the costs of improving forecasting may be prohibitive. European research projects like FLOODRELIEF addressed these limitations by developing and demonstrating a new generation of fl ood forecasting methodologies, which will advance present capabilities and accuracies. These technologies have been also evaluated and tested in two highly fl ood prone regional basins, one in Poland and one in the United Kingdom, demonstrating the benefi ts of fl ood forecasting innovations for saving lives and properties.

Karsten HAVNØ

Organisation:

DHI Water & Environment, Denmark

Position:

Research Director

E-mail address:

[email protected]

Website:

http://projects.dhi.dk/fl oodrelief/

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Anammox®


Waste Water Treatment – New technological concepts and processes

With the Anammox technology, which is based on the recently-discovered bi-ological reaction of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ammonium + nitrite lead-ing to nitrogen gas, without the need for a carbon source) - ammonium can be more eff ectively removed from wastewater, thus addressing a key issue in wastewater and sludge management. The Anammox technology is being suc-cessfully demonstrated on full scale in Rotterdam. This demonstration project is a milestone in cost eff ective and sustainable wastewater treatment. Anammox technology presents the following advantages over conventional treatment:

• no additional chemicals are required, such as methanol as electron donor • power consumption is reduced by 60% • CO

2 emission is reduced by ca. 90%

• no emission of harmful compounds such as nitrous oxide (N2O)

• excess sludge production is reduced up to 90% • high-rate process requiring less equipment and less space • substantial savings on both operational and equipment costs

After the University of Delft had successfully demonstrated the process on lab scale, Paques BV has obtained a worldwide exclusive license on the tech-nology. In 2002 the fi rst full scale Anammox reactor was erected at the mu-nicipal wastewater treatment plant of Waterboard Hollandse Delta (WSHD formerly ZHEW) in Rotterdam. The Anammox reactor is treating reject water from the sludge digestion plant. This reject water has a high ammonium con-centration of around 1 g/l. Before, this stream was treated by a Sharon reac-tor alone, in which the ammonium was oxidized to nitrite and subsequently denitrifi ed by addition of methanol. Now the Anammox reactor is placed to treat the effl uent of this Sharon reactor. The reactor has a volume of 72 m3 and a capacity of removing 500 kg nitrogen per day.

Now that the Anammox technology has been successfully demonstrated,

the process becomes available for market-wide application. Thanks to this technology the nitrogen can be removed with cost savings up to three times compared to conventional treatment and with a big improvement in sus-tainability. The development of the ANAMMOX® technology was fi nancially supported through the Community research Framework Programme ICON.

Tom VEREIJKEN

Organisation:

Paques B.V., the Netherlands

Position:

Senior Researcher

E-mail address:

[email protected]

Website:

http://www.paques.nl/paques/Paques/anammox.html

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CARE-W and CARE-S


Asset management – Sound decision making and planning for sustainable investment in operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of buried water infrastructure

Sustainable water resources management and the environmental, socio-economic and fi nancial welfare, which it brings to our societies, have always been inextricably linked to good asset management, achieved through sound investment planning and effi cient operations and maintenance decision-mak-ing. The challenge of achieving this is of global proportions, both in terms of the extent and the scale of the improvements and the investment required. The principles of a sound, sustainable approach to asset management, based on understanding asset condition and performance, levels of service and risk are universal and the lessons learned easily transferable between regions. Quality of asset management shall condition not only the quality and cost of water and sanitation services in developed countries but the chances for in-creasing safe and sustainable access to these types of services in developing countries.

Eff ective management of infrastructure assets is central to achieving sustain-able water resources management but it also presents important challenges, especially as the majority is buried underground. In short, the challenge to the asset manager is to rehabilitate the right pipe, in the right way, at the right time. Predicting, assessing and timely response to infrastructure asset failure have always been formidable and cumbersome tasks; an interdisci-plinary science in its own right of which the complexities are still to be re-vealed. It involves expertise ranging from materials science and chemistry to structural engineering and advanced statistical theories. Interdisciplinary ap-proaches, founded on sustainability and risk based planning, are the order of the day. Climate change impact and changes in water consumption patterns, the need for advanced and accessible technologies to provide essential (real-time or historical) diverse data needed to support such an approach and the technological tools for implementing proposed solutions are all indications of the scale of the work ahead. At present, there is a wide recognition of the need for scientifi c breakthroughs in approaches which reduce the need for new or replacement assets, and minimise their whole life costs. These include technological tools to improve our understanding, detection, assessment, prioritisation and management of the risk of asset failure and new methods to construct, install, maintain, replace and renew existing assets. For exam-ple, using methods based on trenchless or minimum disturbance solutions. Obviously, the new skills necessary for end-users to engage with these new approaches cannot be overemphasized. Undeniably, over the last two dec-ades progress in IT and sensor technology has increased processing, problem detection and feedback capability providing a better foundation for dealing with asset management complexities.

Cognisant of these challenges, the Community Framework Programme has, for a number of years, been investing in asset management related research; CARE-W and CARE-S are typical examples of such projects. Both projects have been part of the CityNet project cluster of six individual research and development projects (2001-2005), funded by the European Union under


the 5th Framework Programme. They address the entire area of integrated urban water management (water supply, sewerage, drainage) including the urban/rural interfaces (raw water sources, receiving waters, groundwater). The cluster embraces 47 research institutions and 56 end-users across Europe including one in Australia.

Will WILLIAMS

Organisation:

Water Research Center plc, United Kingdom

Position:

Director of Asset Management

E-mail address:

[email protected]

Websites:

http://care-w.unife.it/

http://care-s.unife.it/

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MULINO


Integrated Water Resources Management – Developing decision support tools for promoting interaction between researchers and various stakeholders

Addressing the complex multi-sectoral problem of water resources quan-tity and quality management at catchment and river basin scale requires the development of fl exible, adaptive and educational decision support tools, which provide a common foundation for interaction between researchers, water authorities and other interested stakeholders. By integrating the en-vironmental and socio-economic modelling techniques with Geographical Information System functionalities and multi-criteria decision aids, MULINO

DSS (mDSS) aspires to be a multilingual operational tool, which meets the needs of European water authorities towards the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). By combining a transparent defi nition of the decision making context, mDSS contributes to creating a common un-derstanding and promoting communication on sustainable water resources management and provides a valuable tool for stakeholder engagement, so-cial learning and collaborative decision-making.

The MULINO methodology has been applied at a variety of scales and issues.

For example, it has been used in Romania to evaluate alternative agricultural production systems with a view to optimising environmental and socio-eco-nomic parameters such as sediment loads, nitrate fl uxes and farmers’ income. In Portugal, it has been employed as a tool to assess strategic options for dam management in the context of water scarcity and competing use of water from various economic sectors. In United Kingdom, it has found another application in examining a range of options for the sustainable allocation of water and the preservation of ecological fl ow requirements. In Belgium, it has supported the decision-making process for locating water holding reservoirs and stormwater basins to reduce the risk of fl ooding. In Italy, mDDS was used in the context of ground water overexploitation due to extensive irrigation and of reducing nitrate loads from agricultural runoff providing alternative options for both naturalists and hydraulic engineers to choose the most effi -cient water management strategy. Last but not least, MULINO was also tested at the European scale evaluating alternative scenarios for agricultural policy and the implementation of the European Union’s Nitrate Directive.

Carlo GIUPPONI

Organisation:

Università degli Studi di Milano and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Italy

Position:

Associated Professor

E-mail address:

[email protected]

Website:

http://siti.feem.it/mulino/


Programme of the Session

14:30 – 14:35 Introduction of the session by the Chairman

14:35 – 15:35 Presentation of Local Actions

• Forecasting fl ood events: European technology at the leading edge

Karsten HAVNØ, Research Director, DHI Water & Environment, Denmark

• Integrated Water Resources Management: Developing decision sup-

port tools for promoting interaction between researchers and various

stakeholders

Carlo GIUPPONI, Associated Professor, Università degli Studi di Milano and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Italy

• Asset management: Sound decision making and planning for sustain-

able investment in operation, maintenance and rehabilitation of bur-

ied water infrastructure

Will WILLIAMS, Director of Asset Management, Water Research Centre plc, United Kingdom

• Waste Water Treatment: New technological concepts and processes

Tom VEREIJKEN, Senior Researcher, Paques, the Netherlands

15:35 – 16:20 High Level Panel Discussion

• How technological advancements may contribute to the sustainable

management of water resources worldwide, confronting diff erent expe-

riences in countries at diff erent stages of development and looking at the

barriers of any nature that slow down the diff usion of the best available

solutions and the growth of technological capabilities.

Panel Members: Cristina GUTIÉRREZ-CORTINES (Member of European Parliament; Member of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety), Patrick CAIRO (Senior Vice-President of United Water/Suez), Rivka KFIR (Chief Executive Offi ce of South Africa’s Water Re-search Commission), Michel DUTANG (Director Research, Development and Technology of Veolia Environment), Claude ROULET (Senior Advi-sor of Schlumberger Water Services and Chairman of the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform), Eng. Germán MARTÍNEZ SANTOYO (Chief Executive Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México)

16:20 – 16:30 Keynote Speech: Technological innovation for sustainable

water management

Andrea TILCHE, European Commission, Directorate General for ResearchHead of Unit ‘Environmental technologies and Pollution Prevention’.

In addition, further information and dissemination activities shall take place around Pavilion No. 40 reserved by the European Commission, Directorate General for Research to this eff ect.

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Contact us:

Andrea TILCHE, Head of Unit([email protected])

Panagiotis BALABANIS, Senior Programme Offi cer ([email protected])

Zissimos VERGOS, Programme Offi cer([email protected])

European CommissionDG RTD I.2 – Environmental Technologies and Pollution PreventionB – 1049 Brussels, BelgiumWebsite : http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/environment/index_en.htm

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