Innovation Pillar I
Water and wastewater treatment and resource recovery

At SEL NTUA, we are actively engaged in advancing water and wastewater treatment and resource recovery through cutting-edge research that develops innovative processes, technologies, and strategies. Our work aims to enhance sustainability, reduce environmental impact, and improve resource efficiency.
We combine physical experimentation at both lab and pilot scales with advanced mathematical modeling to ensure practical and scalable solutions. A range of novel water and wastewater treatment configurations and resource recovery processes has already been tested at these scales to boost efficiency, recover valuable resources, and promote circularity. These efforts reduce waste disposal and minimize energy footprints.


Our research focuses on enhancing the removal of conventional pollutants, emerging contaminants (such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and microplastics), heavy metals, and pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes. We achieve this by optimizing existing processes and developing advanced treatment technologies to enable safe water reuse.
To further optimize system performance in protecting water resources, minimizing carbon footprints, achieving energy neutrality, and reducing operational costs, we are creating novel modeling tools and methodologies. Through these initiatives, our ultimate goal is to transform the water and wastewater sector into a sustainable, resource-efficient pillar of modern society.


Final LIFE BIODAPH2O Project Webinar - Register Now



CARDIMED in September: Water Connects Us All — From Classrooms to Scientific Forums



Removal of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria and Genes by Conventional and Nature-Based Municipal Wastewater Treatment Systems



Working on a Nature-based Solution? Pitch It at CARDIMED in Marseille!



Sanitary Engineering Labatory Becomes Greece’s Nature-based Solutions Hub



Multi-criteria risk assessment for prioritising contaminants of emergingconcern in treated wastewater and surface waters



Elliniko–Argyroupoli Urban Living Lab: Transforming a School into a Hub for Water Resilience and Biodiversity



Call for Poster Abstracts: BOOST-IN Final Conference 2026



SIRENA Project kicked-off in Athens: Accelerating Nature-Based Solutions for Mediterranean Water Resilience



CARDIMED



NURISH



Investigating the Application of Novel Filling Materials in Vertical Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands for the Treatment of Anaerobic Effluents Originating from Domestic Wastewater



NURISH and CARDIMED participated in EURESFO 2026, bringing rural and island resilience to the forefront



SIRENA



Απόφοιτοι ΔΠΜΣ «Επιστήμη και Τεχνολογία Υδατικών Πόρων» ΕΜΠ (video)



ΔΠΜΣ «Επιστήμη και Τεχνολογία Υδατικών Πόρων» (video)



AquaLoops4Med Open Call Results Announced!



AQUAMAN International Workshop on Water Scarcity Mitigation



Start-up of livestock wastewater treatment system at Fresh Milk farm in Thessaly, Greece



Rainwater Harvesting System fully operational at Fresh Milk Farm in Thessaly, Greece



5th General Assembly of the INNO4CFIs project held in Athens



Early Assessment Meeting of the AquaLoops4Med project held in Athens



SEACURE partners meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece



Εργαστήριο πολιτικής: Ενίσχυση Πολιτικών για Λύσεις Κυκλικής Οικονομίας Νερού



Παράταση ανοιχτής πρόσκλησης χρηματοδότησης AquaLoops4Med



Διαδικτυακή ενημερωτική εκδήλωση για την Ανοιχτή Πρόσκληση Χρηματοδότησης του προγράμματος AquaLoops4Med



NURISH Project kicks-off in Athens: Rural Communities Unite for Climate Action



Πρόσκληση στο 1ο Εργαστήριο Living Lab του έργου AQUAMAN.



Πρόσκληση στο Εθνικό Σεμινάριο «Έρευνα, καινοτομία και σχετικές πολιτικές στην Ελλάδα, με έμφαση στους υδατικούς πόρους»



Συγχρηματοδότηση του LIFE-BIODAPH2O από το Πράσινο Ταμείο



3rd AquaLoops4Med Consortium Meeting in Potenza



Celebrating 3 years of CARDIMED’s progress in Zaragoza



HYDROUSA



AQUAMAN



The Fate of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor Coupled with Constructed Wetlands for Decentralized Domestic Wastewater Treatment



THESEUS



Circular water management in agriculture: Screening of contaminants of emerging concern in a real-world water-soil-crop system and human health risk assessment



Participatory Selection of Nature-Based Solutions and Bioeconomy Solutions for WEFE Nexus Implementation: Applications on Tinos Island, Greece



Innovative Photocatalytic Reactor for Sustainable Industrial Water Decontamination: Utilizing 3D-Printed Components and Silica-Titania Trilayer Coatings



Water4All



Comparing the performance of microbial electrochemical assisted and aerated treatment wetlands in pilot-scale: Removal of major pollutants and organic micropollutants



Long-term operation of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor coupled with a two-stage constructed wetland for domestic wastewater treatment



Investigating upflow anaerobic sludge blanket process to treat forward osmosis effluents of concentrated municipal wastewater under psychrophilic temperature



Short-term effect of reclaimed water irrigation on soil health, plant growth and the composition of soil microbial communities



AQUALOOPS4MED



SEACURE



Development of an integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) reactor treating landfill leachate for the biological nitrogen removal through nitritation-denitritation



Evaluating an integrated nano zero-valent iron column system for emerging contaminants removal from different wastewater matrices - Identification of transformation products



BOOST-IN



AWARD









