Dear reader,

Welcome to the third newsletter of UPWATER! We started the year productively and look forward to upcoming meetings and events. Here we will dive into what we are currently working on, inform about future happenings and our participation within the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster. Let us collaborate, share knowledge and learn to create a zero pollution future for water!

In the UPWATER project, we started the year presenting at the inauguration event of the pilot plant of the BIODAPH2O project. At this event in Girona, we shared the ongoing work of our project, with a focus on nature-based solutions for groundwater contamination. On January 24th, our project partners TARH/UWA visited our Australian associated project partner ANSTO, which marked the kickstart of our collaboration around the validation of the passive samplers for the monitoring of groundwater contamination. At the beginning of March, we celebrated two events. In the Bèsos Casy Study, monitoring sensors were installed under the direction of our Greek partner NTUA and also a training session was conducted for international students: a tracer exercise exploring hydrogeological features of the Bèsos site. Additionally, on March 4th, we participated in the first internal webinar of the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster: Technological perspective - analytic challenges in groundwater and drinking water. During this webinar, we discussed the gaps and synergies between the projects of the cluster, aiming to streamline our continuing collaboration.

In Work Package (WP) 2, the biofilter and moving bed bioreactor experiments on parallel removal of iron and pesticides are up and running. The experiments of the removal efficiency of wetland systems for removal of contaminants of emerging concern and nutrients were terminated successfully, and proved that biochar-amended wetlands were able to remove at least 90% of the contaminants. Ceramic passive samplers for monitoring of organic contaminants were calibrated using water and contaminants from the Spanish and Danish case study site. Viral passive samplers have been validated for use with optimized sorbents for the monitoring of groundwater viral contamination.

In WP3, significant progress has been made in terms of fine-tuning the Data Management Plan to the evolving project needs. For example, the early sharing of project results among the project partners and the sister projects in the ZP4W Cluster has been enabled via formulations of especially secure copyright protections.

In WP4, the construction of the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in the Greek and Spanish sites is anticipated to be completed in the coming weeks. WP4 successfully resolved some technical challenges in the construction of the NBS in the Greek and Spanish sites. Monitoring sensors for groundwater level, temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, etc. were installed in the de Bèsos site in Spain. Upcoming tasks evolve around the assessment of the performance of the NBS and the preparation of the next monitoring campaigns.

WP5 is working on the UPWATER assessment framework and environmental risk assessment report, alongside finalising methodologies of cost tools to assess the key performance indicators of the UPWATER project.

WP6 submitted the first policy briefs on local, regional and EU level, defining new strategies to evaluate and select the suitable preventive non-technological measures to groundwater contamination in each case study. Additionally, WP6 has worked to foster the engagement of local stakeholders in the three case studies. Experts and policy makers have been contacted in order to prepare the next focus group sessions as well as the first participatory workshop in the Danish case study.

Finally, in WP7, an initial report on the communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities was submitted, alongside the active participation in the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster initiatives, which aim at facilitating collaborative efforts between the Cluster projects to reach our common objectives. 

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

Workshop H2OforAll project: prevention measures and management of DBPs
21 March | online
This online event of the H2OforAll project, discusses prevention measures and management of DBPs (Disinfection by-products). Read more > 

Water Market Europe 2024
26-27 March 2024 | Brussels
Unique innovation and business event, where state of the art water knowledge and research results can meet with market actors within and outside the water sector to create value and new business opportunities. Read more >

EGU General Assembly
14-19 April 2024 | Vienna, Austria & online
This event brings together geoscientists from all over the world to 1 meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. The EGU aims to provide a forum where scientists can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience. Read more >

Green week 2024: Towards a water resilient Europe
29-30 May 2024 - Brussels
EU Green Week is part of a wider communication campaign dedicated to the topic of water resilience. The objective is to stimulate an EU-wide conversation around the EU’s water present and future, with an emphasis on fostering awareness and promoting positive, collaborative solutions. Read more >

ZeroPollution4Water Cluster: Public webinar on climate change and groundwater 
6 June, 2024 | Online
Joint event, organised by UPWATER, NINFA and MAR2PROTECT, three projects of the ZeroPollition4Water cluster that all focus on groundwater. Curious to find out more about this event? We will update you within the next couple of weeks via the cluster website. Read more >

IWA Leading Edge Conference on Water and Wastewater Technologies
24-28 June 2024 | Essen, Germany
This event provides a unique global platform for water sector professionals to explore the latest innovative ideas, share your expertise, and connect with fellow industry leaders. Read more >

Today in the spotlight: Efthymios Chrysanthopoulos, researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). 

"My doctoral research is focused on the monitoring and modelling of the soil hydrological processes using hydro-informatics tools. Deep profile characterization (up to 1m. below soil surface) of the soil hydraulic properties has been achieved through the implementation of machine operated drilling sets for the acquisition of undisturbed soil samples, which are then analysed with several laboratory methods. The combination of commercial and customize soil moisture sensors with field-energy-efficient logging modules has been implemented in agricultural settings providing a wealth of data for the development of machine learning and process-based hydrological models. The holistic monitoring and modelling frameworks developed in the context of my Ph.D. are to be applied in an urban setting to monitor and simulate the transport of contaminants and the efficiency of nature-based solutions to remove contaminants."

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. 

Are you member of the ZP4W Cluster? Or project partner at one of the ZP4W Projects?
Then we'd like to inform you about the upcoming internal cluster meetings: 

Internal meeting 2: May 22nd, 2024: Monitoring Technologies
Internal meeting 3: July 8th, 2024: Treatment Technologies
Internal meeting 4: September 2024: Decision Making Tools/Central Knowledge base

We keep you updated about the date and time of these and other ZP4W events via the ZeroPollution4Water website and LinkedIn page of the cluster!

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.