AQUALOOPS4MED
- PROJECTS
- Sep 1, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Mediterranean network for sustainable and circular water management in the agrifood sector
Duration: 1 September 2024 – 31 August 2027
Funding programme: I3-2023-INV2a
Project budget: € 3.619.646,24, EU funding (70%): € 2.788.752,25
SEL NTUA budget: € 356.514,62
Coordinator: Catalan Water Partnership (CWP)
SEL NTUA role: Demo implementation and monitoring in Thessaly region, WP3 leader ‘’Pilot Interregional Innovation Investments’’, q-helix partnership, knowledge exchange
Project website: -
AquaLoops4Med in a glance
The AquaLoops4Med project aims to create an interregional network to foster efficient and sustainable water management across the Mediterranean, with a specific focus on the agrifood sector. Through interregional investments, the AquaLoops4Med project will demonstrate, scale-up and commercialize innovative, sustainable and circular solutions to enhance water management, reduce water losses, and exploit alternative water sources and wastewater treatment strategies.
The project involves four participating regions - Catalonia, Basilicata, Attica and Thessaly - with the goal of straightening their innovative ecosystems, with an emphasis on supporting local SMEs. Local SMEs are already involved as project partners, while a second stream of SMEs will be further supported through cascade funding. Through this joint effort, the AquaLoops4Med project aims to address the shared challenges of water management in the agrifood sector and create a new value chain.
Project demonstration sites
Demo 1: An innovative sub-surface rainwater harvesting system and a livestock wastewater treatment plant will be developed and tested at a cattle farm in the Thessaly region. The reclaimed high-quality water, along with biostimulants/biopesticides derived from the treatment processes, will be used to irrigate and improve fodder crops. A novel, low-cost and fully automated IoT smart irrigation system will also be applied and tested.
Demo 2: An innovative treatment system combining algal and filtration processes will be applied to treat and valorise wastewater from dairy activities in the Basilicata region. The potential value of microalgae biomass as a biofertilizer or biostimulant will be evaluated at a greenhouse scale, while the reclaimed high-quality water will be used to irrigate crops. The latter will be compared with control crops irrigated with tap water.
SEL NTUA within the project
SEL is responsible for the experimental investigation of co-substrate selection and pretreatment conditions for the anaerobic treatment of livestock wastewater at the Thessaly demo site. We also lead all tasks related to the operation and monitoring of the demo sites to ensure the effective utilisation of high-quality reclaimed water for agricultural production. In addition, SEL leads all activities related to the design, implementation, and monitoring of the FSTP scheme.
