- A low-cost investment and easy-to-implement solution for improving PhC control in conventional wastewater treatment, while keeping operating costs to a minimum and maximising recovery of resources and energy efficiency;
- Data on occurrence of PhCs in urban wastewaters, to be used in decision-support systems, such as risk assessment, and future EU policy and legislation on PhC limits in urban wastewater;
- Innovation in methods/practices for improved PhC control in two CAS aeration regimes;
- Operating strategies identified using benchmarking tools (performance indicators and indices) to deliver overall good performance of the WWTP with respect to water quality, energy and chemicals' efficiency;
- Chemical enhancement strategies using new eco-friendly adsorbents (from local wastes) and natural coagulants;
- Development and validation of a procedure for PhC analysis in biological samples (clams);
- Analytical monitoring of PhC accumulation in clams;
- PhC analytical monitoring capacity-building of the consortium and the water sector (around 1000 samples analysed for 24 PhCs during a 3-year period);
- Cost-benefit analysis integrating engineering data as well as social dimensions and stakeholders’ attitudes towards PhC impact on environmental health, drinking water sources and water reuse projects, for valuating intangible costs and benefits.
Actions
Actions Progress @ August-2019 Actions Progress @ August-2019 Actions Progress @ August-2019 Action Progress @ August-2019 Actions Progress @ August-2019
A1 Coordination inter-labs
A2 Prototypes' engineering and rehabilitation (PT I.1) or construction (PT I.2, PT II)
A3 Site adaptation for the prototypes in case studies I & II
B1 Preparation of biological samples and wastewater samples for subsequent PhC analysis
B2 Quantitative analysis of PhCs by UPLC-MS/MS
B3 Preparation, characterization and testing of new adsorbents
B4 Chemical enhancement of current barriers at lab scale
B5 Pilot demonstration of the chemically enhanced treatment in case studies I & II
B6 Full-scale demonstration in case study I - Beirolas WWTP
B7 Full-scale demonstration in case study II - Faro NW WWTP
C1 Performance assessment of current and enhanced barriers in case studies I & II
C2 Assessment of PhCs’ accumulation in clams (Ria Formosa - Case Study II)
C3 Assessment of the bacteriological resistance in raw and treated wastewater
C4 Stakeholders panel perceptions
C5 Socio-economic impact of the project actions
D1 Communication and dissemination
E1 Project management
E2 Monitoring and measurement of the project specific indicators
E3 Networking with other LIFE and/or non-LIFE projects
E4 After-life plan
National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, IP (LNEC) is the largest Portuguese applied research institute in the field of civil engineering and related environmental areas, combining R&D with specialised consultancy and with general support to the industry. Founded in 1946, LNEC has large applied research experience, based on multidisciplinary approaches and multistakeholders’ R&DI projects, including broad consortia and strategic platforms, at European and international levels. LNEC is the LIFE Impetus coordinating beneficiary. LIFE Impetus engages 7 PhD researchers and 2 technicians from the Urban Water Division/Water Quality and Treatment Research Laboratory, with vast experience in conventional and advanced treatment technologies, emerging contaminants, benchmarking treatment solutions towards energy efficiency and process effectiveness and reliability. Two researchers from the Urban and Territorial Studies Unit address the evaluation of the social impact of large engineering projects and the perception of technological and natural “hazards".
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Maria João Rosa, Rita Ribeiro, Catarina Silva, Rui Viegas, Margarida Campinas, Elsa Mesquita, Vítor Napier, João Vale, João Craveiro, Maria João Freitas, Helena Alegre
Águas do Algarve, S.A. (AdA) is the concessionaire of the Multi-municipal Water Supply System and the Multi-municipal Sanitation System of Algarve for a period of 30 years. As an Affiliate of the Águas de Portugal holding, the company operates on a concessionary basis granted by the Portuguese State. The Multi-Municipal Sanitation System covers the operating area for the region’s 16 municipalities, covering a total surface area of about 5.000 km2. It serves a resident population of 400.000 inhabitants, which triples in the summer. AdA runs 63 WWTPs, 164 wastewater pumping stations and 402 km of sewage interceptors. Annually, AdA Laboratory guarantees ~130.000 water analysis, from the Water and Sanitation Systems, in the areas of chemistry, microbiology and biology. The Laboratory is accredited by the standard ISO/IEC 17025, for ~190 parameters of water quality. Since the start of its activity, AdA develops applied research in the field of water and environment with several R&D institutions and has participated as associated beneficiary in several R&D projects under LIFE and FP7 programs and COST Actions.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: António Martins, Hugo Nunes, Sara Barreto, Osvaldo Silva, Joaquim Freire, Maria da Luz Berjano. AdA (lab) Rosário Coelho, Isabel Sousa, Rita Batista, Anabela Fialho
Águas do Tejo Atlântico, S.A. (AdTA) is a leading company operating in the environmental sector in Portugal and its mission is to contribute to the pursuit of national objectives in the wastewater collection and treatment within a framework of economic, financial, technical, social and environmental sustainability. As an affiliate of the Águas de Portugal holding, AdTA has the responsibility to manage and operate the wastewater multi-municipality system of the Great Lisbon and West, which includes 104 Water Resources Recovery Facilities (WRRFs), 292 pumping stations and 922 km of main sewage system, and treats around 244 Mm3/yr, serving a population of 2,4 million inhabitants (23 municipalities) and a covered area of 4.145 km2. AdTA develops R&D activities in partnership with other institutions, companies and universities in a wide range of subjects, including novel treatment processes and implementation of management and simulation tools for optimising wastewater treatment and collection. AdTA R&D activities include participation in several national and European projects. AdTA received a Global Honour Award by the International Water Association for the AQUASAFE project.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Rita Alves, Diana Figueiredo, Luís Gomes, Júlio Silva, Cândido Sequeira, Fernando Covas, Pedro Póvoa, José Martins, Sandra Duarte, Tereza Pinheiro. AdTA (lab) Eugénia Cardoso, Carla Silva
EHS Environment and Regional Development Consulting, Lda is a consultancy company, based in Portugal. It was founded back in 2004, gathering the technical know-how and project management skills of a group of experienced consultants in the field of environment and regional development. In the specific area of LIFE Impetus, EHS’s staff has over 20-year experience in the fields of environmental protection and management, resource efficiency and sustainable development, including water resources protection and wastewater treatment, in Portugal and abroad (e.g. United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Belgium, Algeria, Cape Vert), providing assistance to entities such as the European Commission, the Portuguese Ministry of Environment, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Steel Association (EUROFER), the Brisa holding (Portuguese private motorway operator), or the Tourism of Portugal.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Eduardo Limbert
Empresa Portuguesa das Águas Livres, S.A. (EPAL) is the largest water and wastewater company in Portugal and a reference in water quality control. EPAL role in LIFE Impetus relies on the Water Quality Control Department (LAB), where intensive accredited analyses of natural waters, drinking water and wastewater are performed, in the areas of chemistry, microbiology and biology. EPAL manages 49 Water treatment plants, 230 water pumping stations, 731 water tanks and 6,033 km of water transport and distribution systems attending more than 3 million inhabitants of 70 municipalities. Moreover, EPAL manages 395 Wastewater treatment plants, 293 wastewater pumping stations and 856 km of main sewage system, serving a population of 0,6 million inhabitants of 55 municipalities. EPAL’s team counts with several researchers and operational teams with a long experience in innovation and R&D activities, in partnership with other institutions, companies and Universities, in a wide range of subjects, including the development of analytical methods.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Maria João Benoliel, Vítor Vale Cardoso, João Rodrigues, Sofia Silva, Ana Paula Teixeira, Alexandre Rodrigues, Ana Isabel Penetra, Ana Neto
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL) is an education and research institution, which aims to promote the quality of the higher education and to develop competitive research units, both at a national and at an international level. FCUL offers 16 undergraduate programmes, conferring a 1st cycle degree, 15 2nd cycle degrees and two Integrated MSc programmes. In research, with +200 on-going projects, research activities at FCUL are carried out in 20 Laboratories and Research Centres or Institutes embracing a variety of domains in Science and Technology. Many of these R&D activities are carried out in collaboration with international teams and are funded both at national and at European levels. Research activities are undertaken mainly in the following scientific fields: Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, and Operations Research, Physics, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geology, Geophysics, and Astronomy, Biology, Computer Science and Informatics and Philosophy and History of Sciences. LIFE Impetus engages one professor and a Postdoc, both researchers from Centro de Química e Bioquímica (CQB), with expertise in the preparation of activated carbons from biomass residues and their testing for the removal of pharmaceuticals from aqueous media.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Ana Paula Carvalho, Ana Sofia Mestre, Marta Andrade
Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon (FFUL) is a highly-regarded research-oriented institution in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Ranking first among the Schools of Pharmacy in Portugal, it provides programs of excellence in scientific and professional areas. FFUL hosts the Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), ranked by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) as Very Good, that foster basic and translational research, at the interface biology/chemistry/pharmaceutics, based on the drug discovery and development paradigm. This R&D Unit has ca. 200 researchers, whose research is organised in scientific areas from molecular biology to medicinal chemistry, nanomedicines and pharmacological sciences, attracting extramural funding from FCT and industry. IMed.ULisboa provides innovative advanced training at postgraduate level. LIFE Impetus engages two professors which are also iMed.ULisboa researchers, with expertise in infectious diseases and antimicrobial agents, and in the implementation and validation of analytical methods for occurrence studies of organic compounds in water and biological matrices.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Cristina Almeida, Aida Duarte, Sofia Silva, Stephanie Albino, Andreia Joadas, Bruno Nicolau
University of Algarve (UAlg) is a Portuguese public higher education institution located in the south of Portugal. UAlg has about 30 years and its scientific groundwork is developed around science and technology, earth and marine sciences, management and economy, social sciences and more recently health. UAlg participates in a significant number of research projects demonstrating a clear commitment towards R&D and innovative ideas that can be turned into products and services. Steered by international and inter-institutional networks with other universities, UAlg aims to foster innovation considering synergies as an opportunity to contribute to the excellence of UAlg. It has well-established research centers in several fields such as marine sciences playing a key role at a national level. CIMA is one of its research centers associated to Earth, Sea and Environmental Sciences.
LIFE Impetus engages 1 professor/researcher from UAlg/CIMA, with 25 years of experience in environmental and marine assessment, participating in several projects on water quality and/or contamination of waters and bivalves, particularly those from Ria Formosa.
LIFE IMPETUS Team: Alexandra Cravo, António São Braz, Cátia Correia, João Carlos Cunha, José Jacob
LIFE Impetus Advisory Council is a consultative panel of experts, acting as scientific and technical advisers and evaluators of the project work on 4 main topics: PhC analysis; activated carbons' preparation and adsorption; wastewater treatment; EU policy and regulation. It involves the following 5 experts:
- Anabela Rebelo, Senior Officer, Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), Portugal
- António Frazão, CEO of Águas do Tejo Atlântico (AdTA), Portugal
- Conchi Ania, Directeur de Recherche of CNRS, at CEMHTI CNRS, Orléans, France
- Damià Barceló, Director & Research Professor, Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain
- Jaime Melo Baptista, Principal Researcher, National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), Portugal
From the beginning of LIFE IMPETUS project, the identification and involvement of the project’s stakeholders has been seen as an important asset for the replicability and transferability of its results and outputs. As a matter of fact, the work conducted with the Stakeholders’ Panel has been important to characterize the stakeholders’ values, believes and attitudes towards the PhCs impact on ecosystem protection and water reuse. LIFE Impetus Stakeholders’ Panel includes representatives from the following classes: water utilities and professionals (7 entities); water utilities and technology providers (3); regulators (3); health authorities (2); academia and research centers (5); other (2); statistics (1); reused water potential users (2); independent consultants (2); civil society and press (3).
The objective of the first stakeholders' workshop – WS1 (held in July 2017, with 36 participants) was to explore the critical dimensions of analysis of the need for the control of pharmaceuticals in urban WWTPs, with discussion and exchange of perceptions towards the environmental problem of PhCs, as well as wastewater treatment and constraints of the latter. The results of the first workshop were essential for the preparation of the second one. The second stakeholders' workshop –WS2 (held in January 2019, with 37 participants) aimed at promoting a discussion about perceived evolutions in social, environmental and economic conditions and to produce information about intangible costs and benefits associated with the solution put forward by the project LIFE IMPETUS.