EurEau has published new research setting out research and innovation priorities for the European water sector. Innovating for a greener future is designed to help policy makers in designing research and innovation programmes in a way that responds to the real needs of drinking water and wastewater operators.

The combined energy and supply-chain crisis the water sector experienced in 2022 has placed renewed focus on the possibilities for water services not just to increase energy efficiency, but to contribute to the resilience of the energy grid by becoming energy producers themselves. Difficulties encountered by the sector in procuring some indispensable materials, including chemical reagents, has stimulated new thinking about the sector’s supply chains. The opportunities range from ensuring resilience in the face of shortages to envisioning fossil-free chemicals.

This is emblematic of a broader commitment to embed sustainability across all aspects of our work. We need better ways to control the greenhouse gas emissions from wastewater treatment processes and continue to look for ways to improve our contribution to circularity and reduce our waste. This commitment also requires our sector to find better ways to raise public awareness of the fragility of water resources and the role they need to play in protecting them. This must involve not just demand management but also education on the safe disposal of wet wipes and medicines (‘bin, don’t flush’).

The challenge of emerging pollutants is more than ever at the forefront of our members’ minds, and is reflected in the need for new ways of stemming pollution at the source, notably by reaching out to industrial and other sectors to find solutions together. For those pollutants, like PFAS and microplastics, which are already present all around us, our sector needs innovative ways to remove them, especially from sewage sludge to boost its potential for beneficial use in the circular economy.

Finally, technological advances in other fields are opening up new possibilities for innovation in water management. The growing versatility of drones could be harnessed for uses ranging from hydrogeological modelling of groundwater resources to spotting leaks from inside water pipes.

You can read the report here.