Circular management of water resources

Innovations belonging to the circular economy paradigm have the potential to mitigate the water shortage issues faced by many world regions, through the regeneration of urban and industrial wastewater, storm water, and salt water and their reuse in sectors such as agriculture, industry, public green. The paradigm also supports promising solutions for the recovery of scarce materials (e.g., phosphorus) and energy from wastewater and its sludge. However, appropriate regulatory measures are necessary to create an environment where water utilities and water users decide to deploy and adopt the circular water innovations. The research will investigate the drivers and the barriers to water circular management. In the policy domain, it will model the role of regulatory mechanisms that incentivize resource efficiency, the diffusion of wastewater recovery and water reuse, a scarcity-reflective water planning. In the management and industrial engineering domains, it will investigate economic opportunities and feasibility for water utilities to diversify and to develop new supply chains for wastewater, and for water users to achieve a higher water, energy and materials efficiency level, whilst minimizing environmental and societal impact.

The main projects that have been funded from 2017 on this topic are: a) Project Ô – Demonstration of Planning and Technology Tools for a Circular, Integrated and Symbiotic Use of Water (competitive funding; European Comission’s Horizon 2020 program, H2020-IND-CE-2016-17); b) PerFORM WATER 2030 – Platform for Integrated Operation Research and Management of Public Water towards 2030 (competitive funding; European Regional Development Fund and Regione Lombardia Accordi per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione, ID 240750).