A newsletter for the “Water Cycle and Soil Related Aspects” activities in the European Commission Directorate General for Research

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EDITORIAL NOTE: Water and Soil Times – the last and final issue

Dear Readers,

In July 2003 we published the first issue of the "Water and Soil Times", an e-newsletter dedicated to promote and disseminate information about activities, RTD projects and results achieved within the thematic area "Water and Soil related aspects" under FP6 as well as relevant FP5 projects. In total, 22 issues were sent to the interested community, the last one reaching more than 3.200 subscribers. All published issues are available for consultation and download at: http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/rtd/eesdwatkeact/info/data/index.htm

The 7th Framework Programme will start next year. Therefore we intend to focus the coming issues of a revised newsletter on subjects addressed by the FP7 activity "Environmental Technologies". The enlarged scope will address technologies which contribute to sustainable consumption and production, help to deliver sustainable growth, providing eco-efficient solutions to environmental problems at different scales and protect our cultural and natural heritage.

I would like to sincerely thank all contributors and subscribers and hope that we will succeed to maintain, and even enhance, the interest in this publication in the future.

FP7 NEWS: Budget and decisions

The decisional process towards FP7 adoption is progressing smoothly, the Council having adopted a common position on 25 September. The indicative budget allocated to the theme Environment (including Climate Change) within the Specific Programme "Cooperation" is now 1.890 EUR Million. Details about the FP7 decision process are available at:

http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail_dossier_real.cfm?CL=en&DosId=192725

FP7 NEWS: Forthcoming call for experts:

The Commission shall appoint independent experts to assist with evaluations of FP7 proposals. Consequently, a call for experts will be launched in view to establish an appropriate database from where experts shall be selected on the basis of required skills and knowledge.

The experts registered in the Experts Management Module for FP6 (https://cordis.europa.eu/emmfp6/index.cfm?fuseaction=wel.welcome) will be invited to refresh their data by the end of November 2006.

HYDRATE - Hydrometeorological data resources and technologies for effective flash flood forecasting.

The HYDRATE project was officially launched on 1st September 2006. This 3-year FP6 specific target research project aims to improve the scientific basis of flash flood forecasting by extending the understanding of past flash flood events, advancing and harmonising a European-wide innovative flash flood observation strategy and developing a coherent set of technologies and tools for effective early warning systems. To this end, the project includes actions on the organization of the existing flash flood data patrimony across Europe. The observation strategy proposed in HYDRATE has the objective to collect flash flood data by combining hydrometeorological monitoring and the acquisition of complementary information from post-event surveys.  This will involve a network of existing Hydrometeorological Observatories; all are placed in high flash flood potential regions. HYDRATE will develop a freely-accessible European Flash Flood Database to make the collected hydrometeorological data available to the international research community. The final aim of HYDRATE is to enhance the capability of flash flood forecasting in ungauged basins by exploiting the extended availability of flash flood data and the improved process understanding. Partners include nine universities, seven government research centres and one SME. They represent eight Member States, one Associated Candidate State and three third countries. The results of HYDRATE will benefit thus from assembling international knowledge and scientific expertise and lead to advancements in observation strategy for implementation not only in Europe but internationally.

For more information on the project contact the project coordinator, Prof. Marco Borga (e-mail: marco.borga@unipd.it).

The FOOTPRINT Project: developing tools for pesticide risk assessment and management in the EU

This FP6 'Scientific Support to Policies' project aims at developing a range of tools which can be used to assess the risk of pesticides having an impact on water resources and to investigate potential risk reduction strategies.  The 3 FOOT tools are designed to address the needs of different stakeholders with regard to pesticides:
- extension services and farmers at the farm scale
- water quality managers at the catchment scale
- policy makers and registration authorities at national and EU scale.

The project has recently released a database containing environmental fate and ecotoxicological data for all pesticides registered in the EU and their metabolites ('The FOOTPRINT PPDB'). The project team is currently finalising the development of a large number of agro-environmental scenarios which will allow a classification of land in the EU according to their potential to contaminate adjacent water resources.

Those interested in the project are invited to attend the FOOTPRINT annual meeting (23-24 November 2006, Copenhagen) or to visit the project web site at: www.eu-footprint.org

How EUGRIS can help you to prepare for the imminent call for proposals for FP7?

A major challenge for those initiating or participating in FP7 projects is to find the most suitable partners in Europe, associated states or target third countries.

This is where EUGRIS (http://www.eugris.info), a portal dedicated to soil and water related topics, can help as it has over 1,700 registered experts in its “Who does What” Directory, including their contact details and expertise.

EUGRIS can also support proposal development by:

- providing a dissemination platform

- providing access to past projects (and their outputs) so you can see what has already been done

- providing contacts to other stakeholders (regulators, industry etc).

More information is available from:

http://www.eugris.info/DisplayNewsItem.asp?NewsID=376

"Water and Liberalisation. European Water Scenarios", edited by: Matthias Finger, Jeremy Allouche, Patrícia Luís-Manso.

The publication is a result of the EC funded project EUROMARKET (FP5).   
The key sections of the book concern:
1. An in depth introduction to the current situation in the WSS sector.
2. The European water supply and sanitation markets; the institutional framework of the water supply and sanitation sector in the EU: a comparative analysis; analysis of the EU explicit and implicit policies and approaches in the sector; analysis of the strategies of the water operators in Europe.
3. Scenarios on the evolution of the water sector in Europe.
4. Economic, environmental and social implications of the scenarios; major implications per scenario.

More information about the publication is available at: http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn1843391139

FP6 Integrated Project Aquastress – 2nd Newsletter is available

The AQUASTRESS project adopts a rather unique and definitely challenging 'case study stakeholder driven' approach involving proactively the acting community in the different stages of the decision-making process. This powerful and responsive mechanism will induce robust means for a real integrative water resources management.

The project is organised in three phases; (i) characterisation of selected reference sites and relative water stress problems, (ii) collaborative identification of preferred solution options, (iii) testing of solutions according to stakeholder interests and expectations. Achievement of these major objectives will provide innovative insights and conditions facilitating the management of water scarce resources.

As corner stone the project is developing intuitive and adaptive communication tools in view to facilitate the multidisciplinary integrative approach necessary to successfully achieve the extremely ambitious objectives of this project.

Public deliverables of the project can be obtained at http://www.aquastress.net/ including a recent Aquastress newsletter focussing on education to water saving.

Workshop: European initiative for the standardisation of membrane bioreactor technology, 24 November 2006, Berlin, Germany.

AMEDEUS, a consortium on MBR-technology, coordinated by the Berlin Centre of Competence for Water, has performed a comprehensive study on the market expectations and technological potential of the standardisation of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in Europe. Two project partners, Anjou Recherche (Veolia Water) and Aquafin, major operators of MBR systems in Europe, have been in charge of this study, undertaken in liaison with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). They surveyed a panel of 45 selected market player of the MBR industry. The scope of the analysis focussed on two aspects:

- standardisation of MBR filtration systems (geometry, capacity etc), and

- standardisation of characterisation methods (fouling, module integrity etc).

The outcome of the study –a White Paper on MBR standardisation– will be soon available at www.mbr-network.eu, the web-platform dedicated to the MBR technology, and will be presented on 24 November 2006 in a workshop hosted by the German Instit ute for Standardisation (DIN) in Berlin. This initiative is expected to pave the way towards an appropriate standardisation process of the MBR technology, which should benefit the European MBR industry.

AMEDEUS is one of the four research projects financed from 2005 up to 2009 by the European Commission which is dedicated to the development of the MBR technology. The coalition of projects “MBR-Network” gathers about 50 European and international companies and institutions, with a total budget of about 16 EUR Million (www.mbr-network.eu).

Workshop: "Environmental Research for SMEs – Technology Challenges and Market Opportunities in Waste Water Treatment", 28 November 2006, CCAB Building – Centre Borschette, Brussels, Belgium.

The aim of the event is to address future trends and needs in key technologies and research in the area of waste water treatment. It will focus on the dissemination of knowledge, technology uptake in traditional SME sectors as well as business opportunities.

The European Commission, DG Research - "Research and SMEs Unit", jointly with DG Environment, will hold a one day dissemination workshop in the area of waste water treatment. Results from EU funded research projects will be presented by project participants. The event is targeted towards SMEs, SME associations, research organisations, public authorities and other actors. It will provide an opportunity to disseminate RTD results for a selection of projects and facilitate networking opportunities.

Additional information at: http://sme.cordis.lu/news/events.cfm.

"Ultra- and Nanofiltration in Water Treatment" - Workshop on "Operational experience and research results", 14 -15 December 2006, Aachen, Germany.

 TECHNEAU is an integrated project co-funded by the European Commission in the Global Change and Ecosystems sub-priority of the 6th Framework Programme. Launched in January 2006, the project aims to analyse the present water situation in different regions of the world, to rethink current water supply options and to stimulate the development of new and improved technologies, monitoring tools and management practices  for the whole drinking water supply chain.

This workshop in the frame of TECHNEAU Work Area 5 "Operation and Maintenance" seeks to provide a platform for an information exchange on membrane technologies.  Focus will be laid on operational experiences and recent results from application-oriented research on ultra- and nanofiltration for drinking water production in Europe.

For more information visit: http://www.techneau.org/index.php?id=92

Contact e-mail addresses:  salehi@ivt.rwth-aachen.de and marquardt@ivt.rwth-aachen.de.

International Conference on Water Saving in Mediterranean Agriculture & Future Research Needs, 14-17 February 2007, Valenzano, Italy.

The main objective of this event is to discuss and identify the research priorities to support national and regional strategies on water saving in the Mediterranean agriculture.  The conference will be divided into eight thematic sessions:

1.  Water use efficiency and water productivity.

2.  Irrigation systems performance and management.

3.  Use of non-conventional water resources in irrigated agriculture.

4.  Innovative approaches and tools for water saving.

5.  Socio-economic and environmental aspects of sustainable water management.

6.  Institutional and policy dimensions of water saving.

7.  Integrated strategies for water saving in Mediterranean region.

8.  Euro-Mediterranean cooperation: building up common water saving policies, strategies and priorities.

Additional information is available at: http://wasamed.iamb.it/conference/

For further information please contact conference secretariat at: e-mail: wasamed@iamb.it.

"Today is the Future", 7 March 2007, Brussels, Belgium.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the event "Today is the Future" is cancelled

SWAP2007.  European Symposium on Waterborne Pathogens in Surface and Drinking Waters, 19 – 20 April, 2007, Luxembourg, Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.

The European Commission has launched various actions under FP5 and FP6 addressing problems caused by pathogens in drinking and recreational waters. Results and achievements of RTD projects like BIOFILMS, SAFER, AQUA-CHIP, MICRORISK, TOXIC, VIROBATHE and TECHNEAU will be presented at the SWAP2007.

The main aims of the symposium are as follows:

- to communicate the major results of relevant research projects in order to get a picture of the state-of-the-art concerning pathogens in drinking and recreational waters;
- to highlight emerging issues concerning waterborne pathogens;
- to formulate the research needs from the regulation and industrial points of view;
- to establish vivid links between the research, regulation and industry sectors.

More information will be soon available at: http://swap2007.lippmann.lu

Contact e-mail address: swap2007@lippmann.lu

2nd IWA National Young Water Professionals Conference: "Membrane Technologies for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse", 4-6 June 2007, Berlin, Germany.

The event, an initiative of the MBR-Network (www.MBR-Network.eu), is organised by the Berlin Centre of Competence for Water and the International Water Association as a follow up of the first NYWP conference organised in Aachen in October 2005.

The deadline for submission of extended abstracts is 30 November 2006

More detailed information about the theme of the conference and call for papers is available at: www.IWA.kompetenz-wasser.de

Contact e-mail address: iwa@kompetenz-wasser.de

6th Conference on Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse for Sustainability, 9-12 October 2007, Antwerp, Belgium.

The conference is co-organised by the representatives of the EC funded FP6 project RECLAIM WATER.

The conference themes will cover the following issues:

- rationale for sustainable water reuse

- advances in water reclamation techniques

- implementation and operation of water reuse schemes

Important deadlines:

- submission of extended abstracts: 12 January 2007

- submission of full papers: 15 June 2007

For more information visit: http://www.wrrs2007.org/en/?n=2

“1st International Conference on Adaptive & Integrated Water Management: coping with complexity and uncertainty" (CAIWA 2007), 12 – 15 November 2007, Basel, Switzerland.

The conference will provide a multidisciplinary platform and bring together scientists from academia, industry, and policy making/government to analyse progress, to explore new research directions and highlight policy implications of scientific findings. It will focus on basic research findings across all sectors of adaptive and integrated water resource management. Furthermore, it will share the major scientific insights from the 'NeWater' project with the wider scientific community and embed it into the current scientific debate in all relevant themes. The conference will be divided between scientific contributions (3 days) and practitioner insights (1 day). Furthermore, it will be possible to organise special workshops under the auspices of CAIWA 2007.

For further information and calls for workshops, full papers, and extended abstracts please visit the conference website at http://www.usf.uos.de/projects/caiwa/index.htm, find the conference flyer attached, or send email inquiries to caiwa@usf.uos.de .

Selective and stable NF membranes: continuation of the EU funded FP5 project RENOMEM:

The objective of this project was to develop novel, highly selective, alkali, acid and solvent stable nanofiltration membranes for treating aggressive industrial wastewater streams. Consortium of five industrial partners (Agfa, FuMA-Tech, Mekorot, Israel Aircraft Industry and BPT) and four institutes (GKSS-Germany, Lappeenranta Technical University -Finland. University of Genova-Italy and Ben Gurion University-Israel, jointly worked on the achievement of the project's goals from March 2001 to August 2004.

Following the project completion BPT started the commercialization of the nano-filtration (NF) membranes, the Nano-Pro™ line. The membranes, designed specifically for the chemical process industry, address the growing demand of environmental legislation to minimize wastewater discharges and to recycle most of industry's water and chemical resources. The unique chemical stability of these NF membranes enables their use in aggressive chemical applications, such as for the recycling of spent concentrated acids or bases and for the treatment of wastewater streams containing strong organic solvents.

BPT established membrane production facility and in cooperation with two European firms (GMT- Germany and Oltremare-Italy) is planning to bring to the market Nano-Pro™ membrane elements in spiral wound and plate and frame configurations during the first half of year 2007. The cooperation with the Italian firm Oltremare is partly funded by a binational Italian-Israeli project - NANO-PRO.

A highly cost-effective wastewater treatment system - HMT™ (Hybrid Membrane Technology), an additional outcome of RENOMEM, provides full solutions for the treatment and recycling of complex industrial water and wastewater streams containing hazardous organic matters, minerals and organic solvents. Treated wastewater is separated into: (a) high-quality water for reuse in the factory (80-90%), (b) concentrated & purified stream of minerals for reuse or an easy disposal and (c) minimal size of organic concentrates (less than 3% of the wastewater volume) for final and economic destruction by oxidation or incineration. This performance is achieved at only a fraction of the cost of the accepted wastewater treatment technologies such as Wet Air Oxidation (WAO) or Incineration.

The HMT™ technology was successfully tested during the last two years by several agro-chemical and pharmaceutical firms (Makhteshim, Teva, and Chemagis). This evaluation was partly funded by the Office of the Water Commissioner of Israel. Orders and supply of commercial plants are expected within year 2007.

RENOMEM partners: University of Genova Italy (UNIGE) and University of Lappeenranta Finland (LUT) foresee a continuation of R&D and process development activities with the local industries as soon as commercial Nano-Pro™ membranes will be available.

For additional information contact Dr. Motty Perry (m010644@zahav.net.il)

HarmoniRIB Workshop: "Uncertainty in data and models: on the way to operational use in environmental management"

This was the final workshop of the HarmoniRIB project (FP5) aiming to discuss the importance of uncertainty among water resources policy makers, practitioners and researchers with respect to the WFD implementation as well as to related fields such as Earth Observatories, spatial management, etc. It was held in Brussels on 21st September 2006 and attended by approximately 70 researchers, policy makers, water managers, NGO’s/stakeholders and consultants. The major conclusion and recommendations arisen from the discussion were:

- uncertainty aspects should be taken into account as part of the water management process. They are already included in some areas such as climate change

- uncertainty should not be seen with a negative connotation that should be avoided, but as a reality you have to live with and that may provide opportunities and benefits during negotiations

- transparency in data handling, in communication and in documenting uncertainty in data and model results is a key issue. A tool which can support this is the Modelling Support Tool (MoST) that was developed by a parallel EU FP5 project HarmoniQuA

- efficient use of data is not only a matter of integrating data from different sources into databases. It is also required to connect the modelling and monitoring communities

- there is a need to better include uncertainty in policy. Uncertainty should be put into a risk assessment framework for policy makers. Highlighting some points that can help towards such a development: (a) uncertainty assessment should be integrated with economics in order to make the results more relevant for policy makers; (b) transparency and communication of the data, modelling and decision process and the associated uncertainties should be improved; (c) more emphasis should be given to the social science aspects of uncertainty.

- there is a need to better include uncertainty in the practical water management. At present, a number of useful uncertainty tools is available. A major constraint, however, is that uncertainty aspects are often complicated to deal with. Understanding uncertainty is often more difficult than to operate uncertainty tools. Nevertheless, improved and more user friendly tools will help driving the capacity building process, because it will generate a larger demand among practitioners to understand uncertainty concepts.

It has taken a long time to make practical use of research models. Now the computer and modelling software infrastructure makes it relatively easy to use models, and many practitioners today use models and models' results. Similarly, we may expect that the development of user friendly uncertainty software tools, such as the Data Uncertainty Engine (DUE) developed under HarmoniRiB, will catalyse a more widespread use of uncertainty assessment. Although it is still relatively seldom for water managers to demand inclusion of uncertainty assessments in analyses of data and models, there has been a clear trend in this direction during the past few years. This trend is likely to greatly accelerate the practical use of uncertainty during the coming years.

Although some operational uncertainty tools, such as those developed by HarmoniRiB, already exist, there is a need for more research on uncertainty in relation to water resources management. Major challenges in this respect include: (a) how to characterise and assess the effects of model structure uncertainty; (b) how to deal with scale effects and uncertainty in data from different sources; and (c) how to integrate aspects of social science and natural science into a broader and more holistic view of uncertainty for use in water resources management. The utility of research outputs can be improved through research and demonstration projects with joint participation of researchers, policy makers and water managers to develop and test concepts and tools that are adapted to the needs of policy makers and water managers. The potential co-operation between EU and US research groups on uncertainty issues is also believed to become a great asset.

Additional information about the project is available at: http://www.harmonirib.com/

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LEGAL NOTICE

The information and views set out in this newsletter are those of the author(s) and do not reflect necessarily the official opinion of the European Communities. Neither the European Communities institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made on the information contained therein. This newsletter may be freely distributed.

See also http://europa.eu.int/geninfo/disclaimer_en.htm

EDITOR:

European Commission

DG Research, Unit I03

Rue de la Loi 200, B-1049 Belgium                                     © European Communities, 2006.

e-mail : Avelino.Gonzalez-Gonzalez@ec.europa.eu            Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged