Dear reader,

Welcome to the second newsletter of UPWATER! As we approach the end of the year, we'd like to look back and inform you on the recent progress and activities of our project. Thank you very much for being part of our journey. We wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year! 

Since our last newsletter, we've organised and joined many interesting meetings and events, to present UPWATER, to network and to share our progress and knowledge with project partners and stakeholders.  

In Madrid, Enric Vazquez Sune (our project coordinator) presented UPWATER during a workshop on groundwater monitoring. In Brussels, the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster, that UPWATER is part of (further details below), was introduced during the Water Knowledge Europe Networking and Brokerage Event. In Athens and Barcelona, the initial participatory workshops took place, focusing on exploring and evaluating the most effective non-technological measures to prevent contamination in local aquifer systems. 

General Internal Meeting
of the UPWATER project in Athens. 

During our General Internal Meeting in Athens, we discussed in detail the progress in every workpackage of our project, we worked through some challenges and celebrated our successes together. Additionally, we paid some interesting visits to field sites, like the Kifisos river pilot site and the impressive EYDAP wastewater treatment plant at Psytthaleia Island. It has been an inspiring, insightful and succesful General Meeting!

Curious to read in more detail about our ongoing activities? Visit UPWATER on LinkedIn!

The Laboratory of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, part of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), has developed a data platform for all partners to store their data. With this cloud-based ecosystem, data from the project becomes searchable and accessible to all project partners and other stakeholders. We spoke with Petros Kofakis, assistant professor at the Agricultural University of Athens and researcher on the UPWATER project, about this milestone we’ve achieved. How can we benefit from this system and what functionalities does it have? 

In the UPWATER project, we celebrate the launch of the Cloud Ecosystem! With this system we have one online platform for all our data. In the cases studies, we identified and selected the groundwater monitoring wells and made a preliminary assessment of both chemical and biological groundwater composition. After this, the sampling campaigns for the validation of the passive samplers (CPS, DGT and VPS) have been performed. Furthermore, the best nature based solution (NBS) configuration for attenuating CECs has been chosen based on laboratory-scale studies. Using a wetland system with only biochar was most effective in promoting the desired microbial activity, contaminant degradation and adsorption capacity. The zero valent iron bioelectrochemical wetlands did not further improve the results. This means the construction on the NBS pilot plants at the Montcada i Reixach wastewater treatment plant facilities (Barcelona) could commerce, as well as at the Greek pilot site. The UPWATER pilot in Stengården mastered the first winter challenge. At the same time, the methodology of the general risk assessment framework is set and the analysis for the monitoring and mitigation measures was concretised. Right now, the UPWATER assessment framework is being developed. Both the general and the case study specific pollution pathways will be explored and our databases will be expanded to decide on the ranking method for different pollutants. Furthermore, like we mentioned earlier, we engaged (local) stakeholders by organizing two initial participatory workshops: ‘Exploring Paths for Groundwater Protection’. Lastly, we are interviewing policy makers, experts in the field and other stakeholders to develop a complete perspective on effective preventive measures for groundwater pollution. 

Want to stay updated on all our activities? Follow UPWATER on LinkedIn!

WWT Wastewater Conference & Exhibition
30-31 January 2024 | Birmingham, UK 
UK's largest wastewater event, covering wastewater networks, infrastructure, treatment and net zero. Read more > 

WEX Global 
4-6 March 2024 | Madrid, Spain
A three-day event which brings together the sector's leading experts to discuss water sustainability. Read more >

World Water-Tech Innovation Summit
20-21 February 2024 | London, UK
A two-day event where 400+ water utilities, regulators, engineering firms, technology giants, start-ups, and investors explore how to build energy efficiency and climate resiliency. Read more > 

Water - an exhibition without filter
First quater of 2024 | Barcelona, Spain
Our sister project H2OforAll will showcase its project in Quedern Cultura de Barcelona. The exhibition, that is currently active in Coimbria (Portugal), is filled with interactive activities. It highlights the significance of water, the imminent threats it faces and the potential future scenarios without it. Read more > 

Today in the spotlight: Diego Schmidlin, currently engaged in his doctoral thesis within the UPWATER project at IDAEA-CSIC.

"My research focuses on aquifers, urban runoff, Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDs), water quality, and emerging organic contaminants. Within UPWATER, I have updated the HYDOR database containing historical groundwater quality information. This has allowed us to establish the baseline for water quality at the Besòs site. Additionally, I have conducted the field campaigns, were we collected grab samples for analysis of traditional contaminants (e.g., nitrates), isotopes (e.g., boron) and emerging organic contaminants (e.g., PFAS). Moreover, passive samplers for viruses, metals, and emerging contaminants were installed at each sampling point. The data collected from these campaigns will allow us among other things to assess the current state of contamination, develop the source apportionment of contaminants and update the Besòs aquifer model."

The official website of the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster (ZP4W Cluster) has been launched!

We are proud to be part of the ZP4W Cluster. In this cluster, seven related water projects work together with the aim to improve water quality, safeguard drinking water sources and protect groundwater against the harmful impacts of global and climate change. On the brandnew ZP4W Cluster website, the cluster shares information and updates about the projects, all the case studies (see image below), working groups, activities and events. Curious? Find out more by visiting the website! 

The ZP4W Cluster is a new-born initiative that originated from the coalition of seven different water projects, all funded from two Horizon Europe 2022 calls. The cluster aims at creating further collaboration and synergy between the sister project, developing co-operation actions with other projects running and future projects and other initiatives, such as co-funded and co-programmed partnerships. 

UPwater is an EU Horizon project. It focusses on Understanding groundwater Pollution to protect
and enhance WATERquality. Read more about the project and our project partners on our website.