Project focus is on presenting nature-based solutions (NbS) for wastewater treatment with low-cost, energy-saving and low GHG emissions through Enhanced Constructed Wetland Treatment System (ECWETS). The Constructed Wetland Treatment (CWT) is not a new issue, but the new system ECWETS will focus on improving the current technologies and use nanomaterials for removing different contaminants from wastewater based on low-cost and natural materials to produce high quality water and recycle all the wastes for producing Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system. The new system will be designed, tested and applied in rural and remote areas that suffer from water scarcity and less availability of energy. Field pilot study will be conducted and tested, numerical simulations of the system will be performed and experimental analyses of natural and nanomaterials will be done. Furthermore, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the ECWETS system will be conducted.

Nanomaterials have emerged as highly effective tools for treating wastewater due to their unique physical, chemical, and biological properties. These materials have a high surface area, enhanced reactivity, and the ability to interact with pollutants at the molecular level, making them suitable for various water treatment applications. Zero-valent metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, especially iron oxides were shown to be more effective than traditional carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for recovering heavy metals in wastewater. Moreover, other nanomaterial will be used to remove organic micropollutants and other harm pollutants to enable using treated WW safely in irrigation and as nutrients.

The project will create an international network from universities, research institutions, policymakers and business sector to better understand how NbS can help to enhance the climate change resilience. It will introduce a comprehensive framework for implementing NbS for circular use of water for climate change resilience to achieve SDGs and EU Green Deal aims. A series of intense knowledge transfer from academic into practice for private sector and policymakers and dissemination actions are planned to ensure that the network will have a significant impact in Europe and beyond.
Advantages and innovation
Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
Academic organisations and/or companies working in the field of waste water treatment, circular water treatment, sustainability of water resources, even e.g. nanomaterials used for water treatment etc.

Framework program
Horizon Europe
Call title and identifier
HORIZON-MSCA-2024-SE-01
Submission and evaluation scheme
Anticipated project budget
Coordinator required
No
Deadline for EoI
24/01/2025
Deadline of the call
05/02/2025
Project duration in weeks
Web link to the call
https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/HORIZON-MSCA-2024-SE-01-01?order=DESC and pageNumber=1 and pageSize=50 and sortBy=startDate and isExactMatch=true and status=31094501,31094502 and programmePart=43108473 and frameworkPro
Project title and acronym
SUSTAINable nature-based solutions for WAstewater Treatment to Enhance climate change Resilience (SUSTAIN-WATER)