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Despite their multiple benefits, water-reuse practices are scarcely implemented globally owing to factors hindering the reuse process and socio-political issues that are closely related to the lack of trust in water-reuse techniques and practices. Non-homogeneity in the water-reuse regulations is also highly relevant. To overcome these challenges, the European Parliament has recently approved the Regulation 2020/741 on minimum requirements for water reuse, to standardise the legal requirements of wastewater to be considered fit for reuse. This regulation also requires elaboration of Water Reuse Risk Management Plans (WRRMPs) for all reclamation facilities of the Union. This review aims to provide a general overview of the current limitations and gaps in developing water-reuse practices, as well as recommendations that could overcome them. To this end, WRRMPs play a crucial role because they can ensure the healthy and safe use of reclaimed water in agriculture. Consequently, they can serve as tools to change the public perception of wastewater, from a waste to a source of water. Previous guidelines to develop risk management plans and the current regulations regarding water reuse in Europe have also been extensively analysed in this study., This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 820954.

Water scarcity will be one of the most challenging topics to cope with in the following years, especially in the regions most affected by climate change such as the Mediterranean basin. The implementation of water reuse practices thus appears essential to satisfy future water demands in a sustainable way, helping to reduce hydric stress in water-unbalanced regions. However, it remains as an underused practice. To change this situation, the wastewater sector needs to develop some structural changes that include not only the transformation of conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) into novel reclaimed water facilities (RWF), but also some paradigm shifts regarding social, political and legal factors. The goal of this manuscript is to provide a systemic, novel and updated vision of the wastewater treatment sector and to give some recommendations for the implementation of wastewater reuse in agriculture, with a special focus on the Italian case. Extensive data regarding water reuse technologies for the refining, disinfection and advanced oxidation of wastewater is also provided. This comprehensive analysis could help to align the objectives to be achieved from all the perspectives (technical, economic, legal and socio-political), thus helping to fill current gaps and overcome barriers that hinder water reuse development.

The objective of the report is to identify enabling and hindering factors for the uptake of ICT solutions to water governance, through the analysis of the process of development and the introduction of three digital applications in three different contexts of water management. This final deliverable builds on a preliminary (deliverable 3.4) for WP3 which was submitted in November 2020. The report applies the structure proposed in the Guiding Protocol (Deliverable 3.1). This document is a draft version. A final version will be submitted in May 2022. The report first describes the general case context of Berlin, Paris and Milan before turning to the assessment of the digital water governance system in the three case studies. In a second step, the social context of the use of the digital solutions will be evaluated. As such, collected findings in this report are still preliminary and, so far, not every hypothesis defined in the Guiding Protocol has been inquired thoroughly. Nevertheless, current research has reached good progress, reflected in the current status of this report. The first sets of stakeholders’ interviews and community of practices were conducted and allowed to delineate the structural configurations of water governance specific to the different case studies. They expose elements that might prove to be factors and conjunctions that affect – positively or negatively – the uptake of digital solutions and the coordination among involved actors. The process of development of the three applications – ICT solutions – in Berlin, Milan and Paris proceeds in parallel to the sociological research on the respective systems of water governance. Thanks to regular communication and exchanges, digital solutions will be developed accordingly with the study cases’ own specificity, to ensure that, once finalized these will be effectively used by people and will thus support a digital and sustainable transition of the water systems. Note: the preparation of this report has been impacted by the COVID pandemics. In consequence, a previous draft version was delivered in November 2020. The present document represents the second draft version, and compared to the previous version it brings additional input regarding: information on the COPs and the collection of the public opinion in Paris. Introduction to section 3 “governance assessment”. In addition, the introductive sections of the deliverable have been amended. It has been agreed that the final version is due end of May 2022., This document is a draft version. A final version will be submitted in May 2022.

This confidential report presents business model and business plan established in M30 for each spin-off partner. Outcomes are related to WP1, WP2 and WP5 (T5.2.3). It includes a documentation of Go-No Go-decision for the creation of the spin-offs, a business plan and a global exploitation strategy. This document provides the market exploration methodology, 3 spin-off concept descriptions (customer segments, services, team organisation, etc.), their market exploration progress and results, the business plans and next steps that will be undertaken by the end of the project to create a potential new economic activity. This report and its business plans are based on work done in D5.1 “Plan for exploitation”, a market exploration mainly carried out by technology developers, and discussions between partners about the creation of potential spin-offs by the end of the project., Submitted first version (v0.1.0) to EC. To be updated in M42 (Nov. 2022)

Reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation purposes is a measure to reduce water stress and overexploitation of freshwater resources. This study aims to investigate the environmental and economic impacts of a current conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Peschiera Borromeo (Milan, Italy), and compare possible scenarios to enable reclaimed water reuse for agriculture. Accordingly, we propose alternative disinfection methods (i.e. enhanced UV, peracetic acid) and replace conventional activated sludge (CAS) with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) for biological treatment and use anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) as the tertiary treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) were implemented on the existing full-scale wastewater treatment line and the hypothetical scenarios. In most cases, the impact categories are primarily influenced by fertilizer application and direct emissions to water (i.e. nutrients and heavy metals). The baseline scenario appears to have the largest environmental impact, except for freshwater eutrophication, human ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. As expected, water depletion is the most apparent impact category between the baseline and proposed scenarios. The UASB + AnMBR scenario gives relatively higher environmental benefits than the other proposed scenarios in climate change (−28%), fossil fuel depletion (−31%), mineral resource depletion (−52%), and terrestrial ecotoxicity compared to the baseline. On the other hand, the highest impact on freshwater eutrophication is also obtained by this scenario since the effluent from the anaerobic processes is rich in nutrients. Moreover, investment and operational costs vary remarkably between the scenarios, and the highest overall costs are obtained for the UASB + AnMBR line mostly due to the replacement of membrane modules (24% of the total cost). The results highlighted the importance of the life cycle approach to support decision making when considering possible upgrading scenarios in WWTPs for water reuse.

The objective of the report is to identify enabling and hindering factors for the uptake of ICT solutions to water governance, through the analysis of the process of development and the introduction of three digital applications in three different contexts of water management. This present document represents a preliminary version for the final deliverable 3.4 for WP3 to be delivered in M30. The report applies the structure proposed in the Guiding Protocol (Deliverable 3.1). Following this structure, the report first describes the general case context of Berlin, Paris and Milan before turning to the assessment of the digital water governance system in the three case studies. In a second step, the social context of the use of the digital solutions will be evaluated. As such, collected findings in this report are still preliminary and, so far, not every hypothesis defined in the Guiding Protocol has been inquired thoroughly. Nevertheless, current research has reached good progress, reflected in the current status of this report. The first sets of stakeholders’ interviews and community of practices were conducted and allowed to delineate the structural configurations of water governance specific to the different case studies. They expose elements that might prove to be factors and conjunctions that affect – positively or negatively – the uptake of digital solutions and the coordination among involved actors. The process of development of the three applications – ICT solutions – in Berlin, Milan and Paris proceeds in parallel to the sociological research on the respective systems of water governance. Thanks to regular communication and exchanges, digital solutions will be developed accordingly with the study cases’ own specificity, to ensure that, once finalized these will be effectively used by people and will thus support a digital and sustainable transition of the water systems.

D8.4 is part of the ethics requirements of DWC and describes the health and safety procedures and related laws to protect research staff and the environment. DWC activities comprise a range of technical activities such as e.g. the development of sensors, sampling and field testing, which might induce a risk to humans or the environment. Thus, potential added risks from DWC are assessed and mitigation measures are identified, and the DWC partners confirm that appropriate European and national legislation is followed., Version (v0.1.0) submitted to EC.

Reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation purposes is a measure to reduce water stress and overexploitation of freshwater resources. This study aims to investigate the environmental and economic impacts of a current conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Peschiera Borromeo (Milan, Italy), and compare possible scenarios to enable reclaimed water reuse for agriculture. Accordingly, we propose alternative disinfection methods (i.e. enhanced UV, peracetic acid) and replace conventional activated sludge (CAS) with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) for biological treatment and use anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) as the tertiary treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) were implemented on the existing full-scale wastewater treatment line and the hypothetical scenarios. In most cases, the impact categories are primarily influenced by fertilizer application and direct emissions to water (i.e. nutrients and heavy metals). The baseline scenario appears to have the largest environmental impact, except for freshwater eutrophication, human ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. As expected, water depletion is the most apparent impact category between the baseline and proposed scenarios. The UASB+AnMBR scenario gives relatively higher environmental benefits than the other proposed scenarios in climate change (−28%), fossil fuel depletion (−31%), mineral resource depletion (−52%), and terrestrial ecotoxicity compared to the baseline. On the other hand, the highest impact on freshwater eutrophication is also obtained by this scenario since the effluent from the anaerobic processes is rich in nutrients. Moreover, investment and operational costs vary remarkably between the scenarios, and the highest overall costs are obtained for the UASB+AnMBR line mostly due to the replacement of membrane modules (24% of the total cost). The results highlighted the importance of the life cycle approach to support decision making when considering possible upgrading scenarios in WWTPs for water reuse.

Reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation purposes is a measure to reduce water stress and overexploitation of freshwater resources. This study aims to investigate the environmental and economic impacts of a current conventional wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Peschiera Borromeo (Milan, Italy), and compare possible scenarios to enable reclaimed water reuse for agriculture. Accordingly, we propose alternative disinfection methods (i.e. enhanced UV, peracetic acid) and replace conventional activated sludge (CAS) with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) for biological treatment and use anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) as the tertiary treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) were implemented on the existing full-scale wastewater treatment line and the hypothetical scenarios. In most cases, the impact categories are primarily influenced by fertilizer application and direct emissions to water (i.e. nutrients and heavy metals). The baseline scenario appears to have the largest environmental impact, except for freshwater eutrophication, human ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity. As expected, water depletion is the most apparent impact category between the baseline and proposed scenarios. The UASB + AnMBR scenario gives relatively higher environmental benefits than the other proposed scenarios in climate change (−28%), fossil fuel depletion (−31%), mineral resource depletion (−52%), and terrestrial ecotoxicity compared to the baseline. On the other hand, the highest impact on freshwater eutrophication is also obtained by this scenario since the effluent from the anaerobic processes is rich in nutrients. Moreover, investment and operational costs vary remarkably between the scenarios, and the highest overall costs are obtained for the UASB + AnMBR line mostly due to the replacement of membrane modules (24% of the total cost). The results highlighted the importance of the life cycle approach to support decision making when considering possible upgrading scenarios in WWTPs for water reuse.

The objective of the report is to identify enabling and hindering factors for the uptake of ICT solutions to water governance, through the analysis of the process of development and the introduction of three digital applications in three different contexts of water management. This present document represents a preliminary version for the final deliverable 3.4 for WP3 to be delivered in M30. The report applies the structure proposed in the Guiding Protocol (Deliverable 3.1). Following this structure, the report first describes the general case context of Berlin, Paris and Milan before turning to the assessment of the digital water governance system in the three case studies. In a second step, the social context of the use of the digital solutions will be evaluated. As such, collected findings in this report are still preliminary and, so far, not every hypothesis defined in the Guiding Protocol has been inquired thoroughly. Nevertheless, current research has reached good progress, reflected in the current status of this report. The first sets of stakeholders’ interviews and community of practices were conducted and allowed to delineate the structural configurations of water governance specific to the different case studies. They expose elements that might prove to be factors and conjunctions that affect – positively or negatively – the uptake of digital solutions and the coordination among involved actors. The process of development of the three applications – ICT solutions – in Berlin, Milan and Paris proceeds in parallel to the sociological research on the respective systems of water governance. Thanks to regular communication and exchanges, digital solutions will be developed accordingly with the study cases’ own specificity, to ensure that, once finalized these will be effectively used by people and will thus support a digital and sustainable transition of the water systems.

The objective of the report is to identify enabling and hindering factors for the uptake of ICT solutions to water governance, through the analysis of the process of development and the introduction of three digital applications in three different contexts of water management. This present document represents a preliminary version for the final deliverable 3.4 for WP3 to be delivered in M30. The report applies the structure proposed in the Guiding Protocol (Deliverable 3.1). Following this structure, the report first describes the general case context of Berlin, Paris and Milan before turning to the assessment of the digital water governance system in the three case studies. In a second step, the social context of the use of the digital solutions will be evaluated. As such, collected findings in this report are still preliminary and, so far, not every hypothesis defined in the Guiding Protocol has been inquired thoroughly. Nevertheless, current research has reached good progress, reflected in the current status of this report. The first sets of stakeholders’ interviews and community of practices were conducted and allowed to delineate the structural configurations of water governance specific to the different case studies. They expose elements that might prove to be factors and conjunctions that affect – positively or negatively – the uptake of digital solutions and the coordination among involved actors. The process of development of the three applications – ICT solutions – in Berlin, Milan and Paris proceeds in parallel to the sociological research on the respective systems of water governance. Thanks to regular communication and exchanges, digital solutions will be developed accordingly with the study cases’ own specificity, to ensure that, once finalized these will be effectively used by people and will thus support a digital and sustainable transition of the water systems., Version (v0.1.0) submitted to EC. Acces to interim version is restricted, but final version will be public.