Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions

ended

The overall objective of WIDER UPTAKE is to co-develop a roadmap for widespread implementation of water smart symbiotic solutions for wastewater reuse and resource recovery, based on the principles of circular economy. WIDER UPTAKE will demonstrate innovative solutions that optimize water reuse, resource recovery and energy utilisation where market utilisation of the recovered resource(s) is achieved through a symbiosis between the utility and industry. The cases will provide applied knowledge on operationalization of the solutions, shared and further co-developed in a community of practice. The demonstrations are: - Reuse of wastewater for urban agriculture, Ghana. - Fertiliser and soil improver by wastewater resource recovery, Norway. - Reuse of wastewater for greening of urban areas, Czech Republic. - Reuse of wastewater for irrigation in agricultural industry, Italy. - Production of new bio-composite material by water resource recovery, Netherlands. WIDER UPTAKE's hypothesis is that the barriers for wider uptake of water-smart solutions are not only technological but also of organizational, regulatory, social and economic character. WIDER UPTAKE will identify and demonstrate common measures for wider uptake through activities on 'Monitoring and control of health and quality risks', 'Circular-economy and efficiency potential', 'Governance and business models for industrial symbiosis' and 'Measuring water smartness and progress towards SDG'. WIDER UPTAKE includes demonstrations of wastewater reuse for agriculture and urban greening, which also reduces the impact of warming from climate change. WIDER UPTAKE also comprises cases with phosphorus recycling, biogas and biochar utilisation, and production of bio-composites for manufacturing materials with resources recovered from the whole water cycle, which demonstrates the upcycling of the resources from wastewater to marketable products.